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Nigel Pittaway | Melbourne

With 2016 drawing to a close as these words are written, it’s time to take a deep breath and reflect on the events which have occurred in Defence and Defence Industry in the past twelve months.

And what a year it has been – we've seen the release of the much anticipated White Paper, together with the associated (and totally new) Integrated Investment Program and Defence Industry Policy Statement; significant progress towards an effective, cohesive and hopefully long-lived naval shipbuilding program; deliveries of new platforms such as the Hawkei and P-8A Poseidon, and announcements concerning several major projects, including Sea 1000, Sea 5000, Sea 1180 and Land 400 Phase 2.


 

Importantly, 2016 was the year when Defence Industry was formally recognised as a Fundamental Input to Capability in the White Paper suite of documents.

  


From an operations standpoint the high tempo is set to continue into the foreseeable future. The Air Task Group supporting Operation Okra is now entering its third year of operations and the fourth rotation of personnel of Task Group Taji has just begun. And there is no immediate end in sight for either commitment.

Importantly, 2016 was the year when Defence Industry was formally recognised as a Fundamental Input to Capability in the White Paper suite of documents.

It’s against this back drop that ADM presents the annual Top 40 Defence Contractor and Top 20 Defence SME surveys, which I know many of our readers anticipate with keenness. As she has since 1995, Publisher Judy Hinz has collated the information received from Defence Industry here in Australia (and NZ) to provide a fascinating snapshot of activity over the past year.

The Top 40 feature begins on page 26 and for me the major take away is the health of the industry as a whole, reflected by a total turnover of the Top 40 companies of over $10 billion over the past year.

Becoming a FIC has been a long time in the making, however it has implications for industry, Defence and Government.

As the DIPS notes, close collaboration between Defence and industry is critical to meet the challenges of the future and the partnership will be instrumental in delivering and supporting the future ADF.

The government must ensure projects flow through the approval process as timetabled, in order for funds allocated within the Defence Portfolio Budget Statement to be fully spent – and industry must be ready to accommodate the projects once approved. ASPI’s Mark Thomson has repeatedly warned that if Defence is unable to spend the additional money flowing to it, the government will surely tighten the budget tap.

From the Defence perspective, it is important that trust of industry continues to develop and is maintained and real partnerships are forged. It is pleasing to note that CASG already made significant progress in this regard, largely through the efforts of Deputy Secretary Kim Gillis and his team.

Likewise, Chief Defence Scientist Dr Alex Zelinsky has been working very hard over the last few years to establish and foster relationships between DST Group, industry and academia, for the benefit of all parties.

But it is also important that industry accepts the responsibility that being a FIC brings with it and looks to engage with Defence as a real partner and not just a source of income. It is also desirable that industry primes foster the development of SMEs, because this is where much of the innovation in Defence capability comes from.

Editor Katherine Ziesing is taking a well-earned break this month, but she will be back on deck early in the New Year, fully refreshed, to keep readers abreast of what is shaping to be another busy and exciting year in Defence and Defence Industry.

On behalf of the team here at ADM I’d like to take the opportunity to thank you for your continuing support and, as always, we look forward to hearing from you with any thoughts and suggestions. I hope to speak with many of you in person at the ADM2017 Defence/Industry Congress in Canberra in February but, in the meantime, I’d like to wish you all a safe and prosperous New Year.

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