The government is seeking proposals from venture capital firms to co-invest in Australian companies developing next-generation defence technologies.
Under this scheme, the Commonwealth would invest co-contributions of up to $500 million alongside private capital investments into businesses developing advanced and export-ready technologies.
So far, the government has opened a request for expressions of interest seeking one or more private capital partners to help channel investment into Australia’s growing defence innovation ecosystem.
ADM Publisher Ewen Levick opened the event with a provocative presentation, urging defence and industry to face the new reality of strategic uncertainty and a less reliable major ally.
Vice Admiral Hammond said that despite the changing and less certain strategic circumstance, there was one unchanging factor – Australia is an island.
“Australia did not ride to economic success on a sheep’s back. Sheep don’t swim very far. Wool doesn’t float for very long. Neither does iron ore, coal, gold or liquid natural gas teleport to the international market place. This nation has sailed to economic prosperity on the ships’ deck for generations,” he said.
“Always has done and we are completely reliant upon access to the sea for economic wellbeing.”
He said that was why the maritime domain was central to national defence strategy.
“For Australia, access to the sea is an existential issue that is at the core of our security, our prosperity, our capacity our capacity to make sovereign choices and our wellbeing as a nation.”
Vice Admiral Hammond said the uncomfortable truth was that to defeat Australia, no direct attack was needed.
“You just need to disrupt our access to the seal for trade and the sea lines of communication that link us with our trading partner. For Australian there is no national security without strong maritime security. There is no economic prosperity without strong maritime security.”
Alan Clement, Chief Executive of L3 Harris, said like most people, he did not worry nightly about being invaded.
“I do worry about the ability to access my bank account. I do worry about the access to products arriving in Australia. That existential threat is something that is very difficult to get across to our nation,” he said.
“The threats we face today are rapidly evolving in every domain – space, air land, sea and cyber. While we most certainly likely not to face an invasion, there is a risk of coercion in the region and our ability not to be able to control our communications and supply chains.”
Major General Jason Blain, head of land systems, said the new Defence Delivery Agency was a continuation of reforms to the defence acquisition system.
“From a land system perspective, we will continue delivering and sustaining what we are doing today. The nature of how we do that will change,” he said.
“We will move all three groups, GWEO, NSSG and CASG, under one national armaments director. That aligns us with a lot of other nations.”
He said, importantly for those working the new agency, responsibility was directly to the minister.
“The services will maintain their sustainment oversight and control which is important to sustain capability. But that deliver space, having accountability under one leadership is a critical outcome.”
Tony Canavan, Global Transport Leader for professional services company EY, told the conference how in the year 312 BC Rome was running out of water and commissioned construction of the 16-kilometre Acqua Appia aqueduct.
“It opened within 12 months of being commissioned. That was 2,300 years ago,” he said.
“It does beg the question – how long do we think it would take to do that project today?”
In a presentation on delivery of major complex programs, he said he had never worked in defence but had worked on major infrastructure projects in Australia and around the world.
“It is taking longer and longer to deliver large infrastructure programs in my sector and that is a problem that exists across many sectors,” he said.
“The recent defence strategy lays out what is needed for this country to meet the needs of today and into the future. A lot of that involves some very significant programs.
“The timelines implied in the defence strategy do not correspond with the time it takes for us as a nation to get things done, not unless the way we do things changes.”
He offered some lessons and approaches from his world of infrastructure necessary to get things built.
One lesson is having a plan and sticking to it. A major benefit of this certainty is that whole supply chains swing in behind it in the certain knowledge that those investments will happen.
“The question is do we stick to our plans and do we bring a whole of economy response to our challenges?” he asked.