Doorstop, Perth

SUBJECTS: Land Forces 2026; Western Australia; Joint Parliamentary Committee on Defence; Defence capability; AUKUS; Defence Industry; COP; Western Defence Forge, Drones and Autonomous Systems; Base Security; Corporal Brendan Hannam.

ACTING PRIME MINISTER, RICHARD MARLES: Fantastic to be here with Roger and Amber on behalf of the Western Australian Government and, of course, Pat and Matt, my colleagues as part of the Commonwealth Defence team. Welcome to Land Forces 2026 here in Perth. This is a hugely significant expo and I really want to acknowledge AMDA, who put on Land Forces as they put on a number of defence expositions around the country. Their role plays a really significant part in making a really big contribution to Australia's defence industry. But more than that, the capability of the Australian Defence Force. Here at Land Forces this year we have 964 exhibitors. Two hundred and six of them are from overseas. So, there is definitely an international flavour in what you see behind us. What you have on display here is literally the cutting edge of technology in the land domain. But most of what you see is an example of Australian defence industry, Australian innovation, and it speaks to what we can do in this country, what we can do in support of our own Defence Force, and what we can do in terms of exporting defence industry from Australia, Australian innovation and Australian know-how around the world. And I'm really excited about what is on display here. This is an opportunity to demonstrate that. It's an opportunity from the perspective of the Australian Defence Force to make sure that we have cutting-edge technology in the hands of our warfighters. And it's fair to say that we live in an age where the pace of transformation, the pace of technological innovation, has never been faster. And so the need to get the latest technology into the hands of our warfighters as quickly as possible to make sure that they are able to do what they need to do, and that they do so in a way which is protected, is so absolutely critical, which is why Land Forces matters so much. Over the course of the three days, yesterday, today and tomorrow, it's expected that around 15,000 people will attend Land Forces. So, this is a major exhibition in the context of the country, actually, but certainly in the context of Western Australia. What we're having take place here is also taking place in conjunction with the Chief of Army Symposium, which Susan has mentioned. This brings together 25 counterparts, Susan's counterparts from around the world. It is the most important defence diplomacy engagement that we do in the land domain. I really want to congratulate Lieutenant General Coyle on what she has done in terms of hosting her first Chief of Army Symposium. But I can't overstate the significance of this in terms of building the relationships with the countries in our region which are so important in terms of providing for our own security. And you only need to look at what we have done in terms of securing security agreements with countries around us to understand how important that defence-to-defence engagement is, and what we see with the Chief of Army Symposium is really that at a granular level. Finally, can I just thank Roger and the whole of the Western Australian Government for hosting Land Forces here. It feels like WA and Perth really got behind this event, which is so important. I mean, it is really exciting to see what's on display here. This is capability which is about keeping our servicemen and women safe. It's also about maintaining peace within our region and within the world, and that's how we should see that.

So, Roger, thank you. Thank you very much for the work of your Government in hosting this. And with that, let me hand over to you.

PREMIER OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA, ROGER COOK: Thank you very much, Acting Prime Minister. It's great to have you here, here for Land Forces in Western Australia, and it's a great example of Western Australia's contribution and commitment to the defence industries. My Government's priority is to keep the economy strong and that means diversifying our local industries to build on the nearly 400,000 jobs that we have helped create since coming into government. And defence industries are a great example of how we can continue to diversify our economy and create the jobs of today and the jobs of the future. And with the Commonwealth Government's commitment to AUKUS, we have a huge pipeline of works which will create thousands of jobs for Western Australians into the future. And it's because of this commitment that my Government has undertaken the initiative, the Western Defence Forge. It's a project which will diversify our economy and create more jobs for our growing local manufacturing and advanced manufacturing industries and attract investment to WA. Early this year we began an expression of interest process and that market response was very strong. One hundred and seventy-nine submissions were received during that engagement, 118 of those submissions coming from WA-based businesses. I'm now pleased to announce a further milestone in relation to Western Defence Forge with five preferred proponents identified for prospective anchor tenants for this landmark project. These companies are Babcock Australasia, a joint venture proposal from OQ Technology and AROSE, Thales, Honeywell and NIOA, with further conversations being advanced with another two companies. These selected proponents bring expertise across a range of areas, including manufacturing, aerospace, autonomous systems, communications, space and defence infrastructure. And we'll be signing MoUs to establish a framework for collaboration and working through how these proposals can maximise local industry participation. As I said, my priority is to make sure we keep the Western Australian economy strong. Diversifying that economy, bringing manufacturing back to the heart of it, and the opportunities that defence industries represent is significant for Western Australia. But we can't do this alone. We can only do it with the collaboration and the great working partnership that we have with the Commonwealth Government. So, I'd like to thank Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles and Defence Minister for the great work that has been undertaken, whether it's the Henderson Precinct, the Western Defence Forge project, or the range of other projects which have been identified as we continue to play our part for Australia's national security. And now I hand you over to Minister Conroy.

MINISTER FOR DEFENCE INDUSTRY, PAT CONROY: Thank you, Premier Cook. And it's great to be here with Premier Cook and the Acting Prime Minister and my ministerial counterparts, Matt and Amber-Jade. What you're seeing on display here is the transformation of the Australian Army. An Australian Army under the National Defence Strategy that will be transformed into one focused on littoral manoeuvre and long-range strike. And the great state of WA is at the heart of that transformation. General Coyle, as Chief of Army, will soon own the second-largest navy in our region. Let me repeat that. The Australian Army will soon run the second-largest navy in the region as it's transformed into one focused on littoral manoeuvre. And those vessels will be built in WA at the Henderson Maritime Precinct with the acquisition of 18 Landing Craft Medium and eight Landing Craft Heavy. And that's what we're depending on WA workers to deliver. This is one part of our investment in that transformation. Behind us is a HIMARS launcher. A HIMARS launcher that is moving the range of the Australian Army from 40 kilometres to now 500 kilometres and soon 1,000 kilometres range striking from the Australian Army. And we're also pleased to announce that we've received our second delivery of HIMARS launchers, the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems that are being used to devastating effect in Ukraine right now. We are acquiring over 90 of these HIMARS launchers to give real teeth to the Australian Army, to be transported by air and to be transported through our Landing Craft as well, being built right here in WA. This is one part of our massive investment in the land domain under the National Defence Strategy that the DPM and I launched earlier this year. And the IIP investment in the land domain increases by 34 per cent over the next decade. A 34 per cent increase, an investment of $59 billion in things like HIMARS launchers, Boxer Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles to be built in Brisbane, and infantry fighting vehicles to be built in Victoria. All part of this $59 billion investment, which is a 34 per cent increase in the land domain investment. And that growth is flowing through to WA. Since the Albanese Labor Government was elected, since the leadership of the Acting Prime Minister, we've seen record investment in defence flowing through to record output. Output in the defence sector has grown by 18 per cent nationally since 2022. But critically, it's grown by 41 per cent in the West. WA defence output has grown by 41 per cent since 2022 and it will only grow further and faster. As Premier Cook said, AUKUS at its heart will be in the West. And so you see thousands of jobs being created by this investment in AUKUS, by our investment in the transformation of the Australian Army, by our investment in the Australian Defence Force. So, we're relying on the West to deliver the platforms, to train the workers, to employ them, and to deliver the capability that is critical to the defence of the nation. Thank you very much.

MARLES: If we can do questions in relation to Land Forces and then happy to answer general questions of the day.

JOURNALIST: We've heard at Land Forces that experts, panel experts, have been calling for a national conversation about what could occur during globalisation and during conflict. Would your government be able to provide that clarity to the public and businesses about what is required during a mobilisation?

MARLES: Well, if I understand the question correctly, civil defence preparedness is an important topic that we need to be looking at. It's been referred to in the Defence Strategic Review. It's really something that actually the country hasn't examined much since the end of the Second World War. But in a contingency, the private sector, the civil sector, works hand in glove with what goes on in terms of defence. And there are countries around the world that do practice this. And it's not to put their economies on that footing all the time, but it is to understand what that would look like and how to practice it. And Finland is probably the country in the world which is best practice in respect of that. It's precisely because of this that what we've done is tasked the new Joint Parliamentary Committee on Defence to look at exactly this issue. And so we've given it terms of reference, it will be investigating this during the course of now and into next year, reporting in this term of government. And we really look forward to the work that it's doing because this is an area that we need to examine more. They're muscles that we need to exercise more as a nation. And I think it's an important conversation to have and an important area to explore.

JOURNALIST: The development of the sovereign defence industry capability in the context of an immigration debate, where the pushback international students and that sort of acquisition skills, how do those two things match up?

MARLES: Well, it's a good question. Immigration clearly has a significant role to play within our economy generally. Definitely in respect of a place like Western Australia where there are significant demands being made on the workforce here in WA and in terms of traditional areas like resources, but needing to make sure that we grow the workforce so that we can fill those 10,000 jobs which are going to be required in relation to defence industry to do such important work in terms of the nation and preparing our Defence Force. And so you need to calibrate immigration in the right way. Now, we've been very open about the fact that coming off the pandemic and coming into government, immigration was too high. What we said in the budget is that in the current financial year that we're in, we want the net overseas migration rate to be at 245,000. That represents a significant managing down of the immigration numbers. But we need to do this in a manner which sees our economy able to continue to move forward. What we've seen announced from the Liberal Party to take those numbers down to 100,000 represents serious questions about how that would work in a place like Western Australia, how that would work in the context of building defence industry in Western Australia. But what that would look like in terms of our agricultural sector, what that means for our nursing homes around Australia with an ageing population. It is really important that we get these numbers right. And what we see from the Liberal Party is actually policy chasing One Nation rather than policy in the national interest and immigration is absolutely central to this and we need to get the numbers right. We do need to manage them down. That's what our government's doing. But we need to do it in a way which can maintain our economy and maintain vital sectors like defence industry here in Western Australia.

JOURNALIST: What safety changes have been made for soldiers training in vehicles following other fatal military exercises, for example, the 2012 one in Holsworthy Barracks?

MARLES: Well, firstly, what we saw on Monday night was a tragedy, and our thoughts are very much with the family of Corporal Brendan Hannam. In his loss, we have lost one of our finest. He had served in the Australian Army for nine years, been deployed in Afghanistan, in the UK, helped new recruits of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. He was really a person who had the bulk of his defence career ahead of him. Our thoughts are very much also with those soldiers who are recovering too, I think still in the Royal Darwin Hospital and three at Robertson Barracks who are recovering. There will be a series of investigations which now are initiated because of what occurred on Monday afternoon. We will see the IGADF commence its work, which it does in respect of any loss of life in the Defence Force. We will obviously see the Northern Territory Coroner undertake work here as well. As will Comcare and Land Capability, who will also go through an investigation. We need to be making sure that every lesson that can be learned from this incident is learned. But I want to emphasise that over and above that, I have spoken with the Chief of Defence Force in light of what's occurred on Monday, but also other fatal incidents that have happened over the course of the last few years, to look at what would be the best vehicle to examine issues such as risk settings, management of fatigue, appropriate training, all of those issues across Army and the Defence Force, and he is going to come back to me with advice in respect of that. I suppose the final point I would make in relation to this is to say that when we prepare our Defence Force, when we build our skills, our strength, our capability, we are really doing that to avoid conflict, we are doing that to engage in deterrence, we are doing that to make sure that we have the most capable Defence Force possible. That is dangerous work. The training is dangerous work. It does carry risk. Monday was very much a reminder of that. And amidst all the lessons that we will need to learn from this, I come away feeling an enormous sense of gratitude to those who undertake that work wearing our nation's uniform. And I express my gratitude to all of those people now, as of course I do, in respect of Corporal Brendan Hannam.

JOURNALIST: Has there been a change for training at Mount Bundy or elsewhere?

MARLES: Look, what we have done, Lieutenant General Coyle may want to make any additional comments here. We have paused the use of the particular vehicle that was involved in the rollover.

JOURNALIST: What vehicle was that?

LIEUTENANT GENERAL SUSAN COYLE AM CSC DSM, CHIEF OF ARMY: So, the vehicle was a Supacat troop-carrying vehicle. We've paused operational use of that vehicle until the investigation has commenced to understand what, if anything, may be impacted.

JOURNALIST: How is the vehicle used by the Australian Army?

COYLE: The vehicle is used in the 1st Brigade and it's also used in our Special Forces units.

JOURNALIST: I understand the investigation is still ongoing. Are you able to provide any more details about the circumstances of the accident at this point or where Corporal Brendan Hannam was sitting inside that incident?

COYLE: All I can tell you at the moment is the accident is under investigation. It would be premature for me to suggest anything else. I can tell you he wasn't the driver in the vehicle.

JOURNALIST: Have there been any previous incidents in those kind of vehicles?

COYLE: No, no, they have not.

JOURNALIST: Do you have any update on how those injured are going?

COYLE: No change from when I last spoke to you. We still have two soldiers in hospital at Royal Darwin and we have three soldiers in hospital at the Robertson Barracks Medical Centre.

JOURNALIST: Are the Supacat still being used at the moment?

COYLE: The Supacat has been paused. We've put on operation pause, which is a normal standard practice that we do when we have a major accident and, in particular, a fatality.

(inaudible)

COYLE: I have not spoken to the family. The unit is supporting the family at the moment. I'm organising to go and visit the family shortly, though.

JOURNALIST: Were you aware the United States was recently running covert exercises to test the security of Australian defence bases?

MARLES: Look, I've seen that report. I mean, there are limits to what I can say here. Firstly, we work very closely with a number of US agencies in respect of what we do in defence, but specifically in relation to base security. And that includes NCIS, a US agency. More broadly, the defence of our bases is an issue that we obviously take very seriously. We are seeing a growing or more challenging environment grow in respect of maintaining base security in a range of different ways. But we are very confident about the security that we have in place in respect of our bases, very confident in respect of that security as it applies to our engagement with the United States. So, that would include what we do in the Northern Territory, for example, with the Marine Rotational Force-Darwin, but also what we will be doing here in Western Australia with the Submarine Rotational Force West at the end of next year at HMAS Stirling. And indeed the United States is very comfortable with the level of base security that we have in place.

JOURNALIST: What steps have been taken to tighter, secure those bases after this?

MARLES: Well again I've seen the report. I'm not going to respond to that specifically. There are limits to what I can say in relation to base security more generally for obvious reasons, but we are operating our bases in a more challenging environment. So, base security is really an issue which is front and centre in terms of what we are managing. And I can assure you that we have been increasing our base security across the entirety of the footprint of Defence. And we work very closely with our friends and partners who operate from our bases. And that very much includes the United States, but not just the United States. I mean here at RAAF Base Pearce, for example, we operate very closely with members from the Republic of Singapore Air Force, and so with our friends and partners, we work very closely with them in respect to base security.

JOURNALIST: On the Western Defence Forge, has the Federal Government got any idea how much you're going to commit to that yet?

MARLES: Sorry, I missed the first part of that.

JOURNALIST: Western Defence Forge. Is there any idea how much the Federal Government will commit?

MARLES: I don't have an answer to that, but we will work very closely with the Western Australian Government in relation to this. I mean the point I would want to make is I think what's been announced by Roger is really exciting. Defence industry here in Western Australia, as I said this morning, is going to be so important in terms of supporting the work of the Australian Defence Force given the strategic importance of our West. When you think about that strip of coastline of Australia from Cape Leeuwin through to Darwin, really, that is the front door of our nation to the world. This is Australia's geostrategic ground zero. And so making sure that we have defence industry supporting our posture here is fundamentally important. And that's why we so very much welcome the announcement of the Western Australian Government.

JOURNALIST: Minister Marles, many of the SMEs at Land Forces are complaining about lack of contracts, laying off staff, is all of this sucking money out of the defence industry, creating job losses?

MARLES: Look, I might ask Pat if he wants to add to the answer. But in terms of what Pat said in his opening, what we're seeing is a growth in defence industry in the land domain and it is across the board. I mean, we are definitely increasing defence industry in the maritime space in terms of what we are doing under the banner of AUKUS. But you look across our Defence Force, we have invested an additional $117 billion over the planning decade. And that's an investment that is right across Defence, so be it long-range fires or the Landing Craft Heavy and Medium that Pat referred to, Army is very much a part of that and SMEs here in Western Australia who are contributing to that are very much benefiting.

CONROY: Thanks, Acting Prime Minister. If I heard the question correctly, it goes to other domains. As I said in my opening remarks, we're increasing funding in the land domain by 34%, 34% over the decade. That's a massive growth investment in land. In guided weapons and explosive ordnance, we've doubled the funding to $36 billion. We've added $5 billion to drones, we've doubled the funding for counter-drone defences, for example. We've increased funding for sustainment as well by billions of dollars over the forward estimates. And that's flowing through to the industry.

As I said, in the state of WA alone, output has grown by 41% in three and a half years, 41% since we came to power in 2022. In the last year alone, employment in the Australian defence industry grew by 11%, an 11% growth in Australian defence industry employment in the last year alone. So, that investment is in every domain, is in acquisition, it's in sustainment. It's growing in most states, but particularly in WA and South Australia. So, we reject the thesis that's being put around by some. It's not matched by the facts. And the facts are record investment in defence, record investment in the Australian defence industry and record growth in Aussie jobs. We are delivering a defence future made in Australia right now.

JOURNALIST: Apart from a brief doorstop on Monday, the Prime Minister has not done a press conference at COP. Why is that?

MARLES: Well, look, the Prime Minister is at a really important meeting in terms of Australia's co-chairing of the COP. And, you know, I can speak from first-hand experience, having had a lot of engagement with the Pacific over my journey and having been to Tuvalu on numerous occasions. His presence there along with other world leaders is profoundly important in terms of helping tell the story of the Pacific, which is on the front line of climate change. His focus in being at COP has been in respect of that and working with those leaders. And I'm absolutely certain that every part of what he's doing there has been devoted to that.

JOURNALIST: Drones are dominating modern warfare. How do you rationalise spending so much on AUKUS when we do have these cheaper unmanned alternatives?

MARLES: Well, it's a good question in terms of the relative balance between drones and autonomous systems and what we do in relation to our more complex and exquisite platforms. I think what's really important is that in the future going forward, what we are going to need is a Defence Force which has a combination of both. It is not about having one or the other. You will in fact need both.

And so what that does mean is that we have definitely seen a growth in drones and autonomous systems. And consequently you have seen that growth in the Integrated Investment Program that we announced in April of this year. Indeed, the biggest shift in the Integrated Investment Program from NDS '24 to NDS '26 was the amount of money that we are now investing in drones and autonomous systems. But going forward, we are still going to need exquisite platforms. It is unthinkable that a three-ocean nation like Australia would operate without a long-range capable submarine. And so we are going to need those submarines as we are going to need those autonomous systems. We are doing both and we are adjusting the IIP to make sure that we are accommodating a growing spend in respect of drones and autonomous systems.

ENDS