I am delighted and humbled to be appointed as the Minister for Defence Industry and reappointed Leader of the House by the Prime Minister.
It is no secret that I am a strong supporter of Australia’s defence industry and have worked hard to ensure our procurement dollars are spent here in Australia.
Australia is entering the single biggest period of defence construction in its history. The Defence White Paper contained $195 billion of new investment in our Defence capabilities over the next ten years. I will manage this massive programme as the Minister for Defence Industry.
Our Defence White Paper identifies and seeks to address the capability challenges we face as nation in the years ahead. With this investment in our national security comes opportunities to transform our local economy, particularly in the areas of advanced manufacturing, research and development.
Our defence industry has the capacity to be an economic and innovation driver as we shift from the post mining construction boom period into a new age of innovation.
As minister I will be focussed on ensuring we grasp this once in a generation opportunity and ensure our plans for job creation and economic growth are realised. This is an exciting new ministry and I look forward to the challenges ahead.
It has been a great honour to have served as Minister for Innovation, Industry and Science and I am very proud to have delivered the National Innovation and Science Agenda in December last year. This ground breaking, whole of Government agenda, will give Australians greater ability to develop and commercialise their ideas and I look forward to working with my colleagues across the Government to fully implement it in the months ahead.
