Patrick Durrant | Sydney
The CEO of one of Australia's largest defence primes has responded to negative commentary regarding the Sea 1000 Future submarine program after a full-page ad appeared in The Australian last week.
The ad, paid for by entrepreneurs Dick Smith and John Singleton, among others, questioned Australia's ability to deliver complex defence programs in country, claimed the submarine program was a “fiasco”, and said the idea of converting a nuclear powered submarine design to one powered by “pistons” was “ridiculous”.
"They should meet with and listen to the stories of the many highly skilled individuals across this state."
BAE Systems Australia CEO Glynn Phillips said he was alarmed by the commentary, which also called for the country’s next-generation submarines to be built overseas rather than Adelaide.
“I am sure that the 28,000 South Australian people who work in the state’s $2 billion defence industry are similarly concerned.”
Phillips defended the world-class skills of the defence industry workforce in Australia, citing the upgrading of helicopters and satellite communications, the building of Air Warfare Destroyers, and the development of combat systems as just some of their noteworthy feats to date.
It is worth noting that BAE Systems Australia isn’t actually taking a leading role in Sea 1000, though, like many defence industry companies in Australia, it will be likely be involved in what the Government sees as a nation building project.
“We are proud to be one of the companies in the business of keeping Australia safe, and we know our industry can do things locally,” Phillips said.
BAE Systems Australia employs 3,500 people nationally, with around 1,000 people based in South Australia; it has consistently topped ADM’s annual Top 40 Defence Contractors listing with turnover last year in the vicinity of $1.2 billion.
Phillips made the point that “Australia’s defence industry is a valued member of the global defence industry”, adding it was innovative and had expertise.
“We’re good partners,” he said.
He challenged business leaders like Smith to seek to understand the industry.
“They should meet with and listen to the stories of the many highly skilled individuals across this state. I’m confident that this would lead to a different view of the value of doing things locally,” Phillips said.
ADM Comment: Phillip’s concerns also highlight the problem of Defence allowing a vacuum of information surrounding complex projects such as Sea 1000 to be filled by uninformed commentary. As ADM's former editor Gregor Ferguson has said in May this year, if Defence doesn't take care to keep the public informed adequately on developments with the Sea 1000 program, then “the potential for unchallenged, malicious and frequently ignorant criticism to damage [the strategic bilateral relationship with France] and create unnecessary additional difficulties for an already-complex and difficult project is immense.”