• Appointments to two Defence Boards have been announced. Credit: FAEF Wiki CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
    Appointments to two Defence Boards have been announced. Credit: FAEF Wiki CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
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Updated 12:24 Tuesday 25th October

The Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne has announced the appointment of Board members of the new Centre for Defence Industry Capability Advisory Board (CDIC) as well the Chair to the Naval Shipbuilding Advisory Board.

The CDIC Advisory Board is co-chaired by Mr Paul Johnson, former CEO of Lockheed Martin Australia, and Mr Kim Gillis, Deputy Secretary CASG in Defence.

The new members are former Senator and Minister for Defence David Johnston, Chris Jenkins (CEO of Thales Australia), Tim Shaw (CEO of Micreo), Merv Davies (CEO of CEA Technology); Karen Stanton (Director Strategy and Corporate of Heat Treatment Australia), Amanda Holt (CEO of Sypaq), Sharon Wilson (Head of Industrial Strategy for BAE Systems Australia), and John O’Callaghan (Director of Defence and Government Relations for Ai Group).

Minister Pyne said the CDIC Board members were selected to provide broad representation across industry and Defence.

“Defence Industry is an exciting growth area for the Australian economy and this new centre will help coordinate all our efforts to become world player in defence industry exports,” Mr Pyne said.

“The CDIC will be headquartered in Adelaide and will receive around $230 million investment over the next decade that will drive industry growth across the country.”

The CDIC will work with SMEs across Australia to promote competitiveness and guide priorities across defence industry.

The CDIC was announced earlier this year as a cornerstone initiative of the 2016 Defence Industry Policy Statement and will commence operations later this year. It will offer a range of advisory services including mentoring, defence market access, export facilitation and global supply chain development.

In related news, the Commonwealth has appointed Professor Don Winter as the Chair of the newly established Naval Shipbuilding Advisory Board.

Professor Winter is a former Secretary of the United States Navy, and has held senior executive positions in the private sector and in academia.

Minister Pyne said Professor Winter was both an expert in naval shipbuilding and highly familiar with Australia’s naval shipbuilding industry.

“Professor Winter has extensive experience and has already made an invaluable contribution to Australia’s defence capability as Chair of the Expert Advisory Panel for the Future Submarine Program Competitive Evaluation Process,” Minister Pyne said.

“The Advisory Board will provide expert, independent advice to Government on all aspects of naval shipbuilding as plans are finalised for establishing and sustaining a viable, continuous naval shipbuilding capability in Australia. The naval shipbuilding plan is expected before the end of the year.

The Advisory Board will report to the Minister for Defence Industry, and provide advice to the Prime Minister and other members of the Government on naval shipbuilding.

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