Address to the British Chamber of Commerce

I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, and pay my respects to their Elders, past and present.

As Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery, I also pay my respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women who have served our nation in the past and continue to do so today.

And I thank current and former Australian Defence Force personnel for their service.

Chief Executive Officer of the British Chamber of Commerce, Ticky Fullerton,

Distinguished Guests, 

Ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you Gary for your introduction [Gary Stewart, QinetiQ CEO].

It is a pleasure to join you all today at the British Chamber of Commerce. 

INTRODUCTION

One month ago, we saw the orderly, peaceful transfer of power in the United Kingdom, following a general election.

While unremarkable to British and Australians alike, this is something that is still unthinkable in many parts of the world.

Democracy is so deeply ingrained in our shared political culture that we forget to notice how remarkable it is.

And we forget to celebrate the democratic traditions that bind us so closely together. 

Now in the United Kingdom we have a newly-elected Labour government.

And following the first phone call between Prime Minister Starmer and Prime Minister Albanese, it is clear that their view of the world is remarkably alike.

They share an assessment of the key challenges facing the region, including strategic competition and climate change.

They share a view on the strength of the AUKUS partnership – and we welcome Prime Minister Starmer’s commitment to building on its strength. 

And they share a commitment to the Commonwealth Heads of Government, which will meet in Samoa later this year – and to multilateralism more broadly. 

Their commitments reflect the shared values of our two countries. 

As I stand before members of the British Chamber of Commerce today, I see many who share our Government’s vision of a stronger, more secure Australia in a peaceful, secure and prosperous region.

Many of you not only share our vision, you are invested in it, working to supply the critical infrastructure and capabilities needed by the Australian Defence Force to fulfil its mission. 

Those partnerships are critical to the strength of the ADF and a vital element of the strong and growing partnership between Australia and the United Kingdom. 

And that partnership is more important than ever before, as we look to face the challenges of an increasingly complex strategic environment.

STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENT

For Australia’s part, the comforts we have relied on in the past, from strategic warning time to the security of distance, have evaporated.

Entrenched and increasing strategic competition is now the primary feature of our security environment.

It is accompanied by an unprecedented military build-up in our region, taking place without strategic reassurance or transparency.

The global rules-based order is under increasing pressure.

Grey-zone activities have expanded; terrorism remains a constant threat; cyber threats posed by state and non-state actors are multiplying; and climate change is compounding all the challenges to stability and prosperity. 

Australia and the United Kingdom share an understanding that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not only horrific and immoral; it is also a threat to continental Europe and a conflict with global geostrategic significance.

Russia wants to take us back to a world where spheres of interest reign, where only great powers are truly sovereign, and their actions are above any law. 

That is not a world where the people of Australia, or the people of the United Kingdom, would thrive. 

That is why we are so committed to supporting Ukraine to end the conflict on its terms, and to working with the United Kingdom to train Ukrainian troops and support Ukraine’s most critical military needs.

What matters in Europe, matters in the Indo-Pacific. 

The Indo-Pacific region is both an economic engine of global significance and the epicentre of strategic contest that is shaping everything around it. 

What happens here matters everywhere, and that is understood from Sydney to London.

THE NEW FOUNDATIONS OF AUSTRALIA’S DEFENCE

The Albanese Government has done the hard work, undertaking a root and branch review of our strategic landscape, and the posture our Defence Force requires to meet these challenges.

That review – the Defence Strategic Review – is our strategic blueprint.

And from it we have established the inaugural National Defence Strategy and the complete rebuild of our Integrated Investment Program – Defence’s 10-year procurement schedule – so that it aligns with the strategic problems and posture that was articulated by the Defence Strategic Review itself.

We have backed our plan with the biggest funding commitment in decades. 

The days of “business as usual” in Defence are over. 

We’ve established the Defence Industry Development Strategy to make Defence a much better partner to industry as we grow and secure a defence industry that is strong, sovereign and sustainable.

Prioritisation is essential. 

The Sovereign Defence Industrial Priorities identify those things we must be able to do in Australia to build, sustain and enhance defence capability.

This means having the knowledge, know-how, workforce and infrastructure in Australia to deliver the industrial capabilities we require.       

Our strategic environment requires a holistic view that moves beyond the narrow lens of solely using “Australian-owned” businesses when seeking to define our sovereign defence industrial capability requirements.        

However, there will be circumstances where Australian ownership is required for our national interest, such as the development and integration of sensitive technologies.

The Defence Industry Development Strategy is designed to make Defence a much more active partner with industry, supporting businesses to increase their scale and competitiveness to enable them to deliver the Sovereign Defence Industrial Priorities. 

Our approach is to move Australian businesses up the value chain, and lay the foundation for Australian businesses to be embedded into global supply chains.

The Defence Trade Controls Amendment Act 2024 – the DTC Act – demonstrates our commitment. 

It removes red tape in defence trade with our AUKUS partners by supporting the establishment of a licence-free environment for Australian industry, higher education and research sectors. 

This is once-in-a-generation reform. 

It removes the requirement for approximately 900 export permits, valued at $5 billion dollars per year, which would otherwise be required for exports from Australia to the United Kingdom and the United States.

The door is now wide open for faster, better and easier bilateral defence industry collaboration.

WORKING TOGETHER TO DELIVER AUKUS

Australia and the United Kingdom are both island trading nations. 

No one understands better than we do the strategic significance of nuclear-powered submarines.

And no capability acquisition is bigger, more important or more complex than the acquisition of a conventionally-armed nuclear-powered submarine through our AUKUS partnership.

AUKUS is no longer a concept. 

It is a plan – a funded plan that is well advanced in its execution.

It will entwine our industrial bases for decades to come.

SSN-AUKUS is the future, state-of-the-art nuclear-powered submarine to be built and operated by both Australia and the United Kingdom. 

It will be based off the next-generation UK design, incorporating elements from Australia and the United States.

Together, we are making real and powerful progress.

Australia is contributing $4.6 billion over ten years to expand the production capacity of Rolls-Royce Submarines in Derby and to contribute to SSN-AUKUS design costs. 

Australian steel from Bisalloy is undergoing qualification tests for use in Australia’s first SSN-AUKUS submarine.

We’ve broken ground on the preliminary enabling works for the Submarine Construction Yard at Osborne in South Australia. 

The first three Royal Australian Navy officers have graduated from the Royal Navy’s Nuclear Reactor Course in the United Kingdom.

And Australian industry personnel have undertaken rotations at Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems, and Babcock within the United Kingdom defence industry.

We’ve selected ASC Pty Ltd and BAE Systems as Australia’s sovereign submarine build partners. 

BAE Systems – as everyone here knows – is the United Kingdom’s long-term submarine build partner.

They bring more than 60 years of nuclear-powered submarine building experience, world-class industrial capability and intellectual property to this partnership.

BAE is the nexus between the SSN-AUKUS design led by BAE Systems in the United Kingdom, where Australian experts are already working alongside their peers, and the development and maturation of the SSN-AUKUS build strategy in Australia.

The pathway by which we acquire a nuclear-powered submarine capability will see an Australian flagged nuclear-powered submarine in the water a full decade sooner than what was planned when we came to Government.

At the same time, Pillar Two of AUKUS – advanced capabilities – is moving ahead at pace.

Under Pillar Two we are building a capability development ecosystem that will accelerate the delivery of cutting-edge capabilities to the Australian, US and UK defence forces. 

We are turbo-charging collaboration between our respective defence innovation and industry sectors.

The AUKUS Innovation Challenges are one of the genuinely new and exciting approaches we are taking to the most complex military problems we face.

Each challenge is drawn from a trilaterally agreed problem set that our defence forces are facing.

The first – on electronic warfare – was launched in March.

Pillar Two is proving to be a potent technology accelerant. 

In April last year, an AUKUS Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy trial took place in the UK.

Late last year in South Australia, AUKUS partners conducted a trial of Trusted Operation of Robotic Vehicles in a Contested Environment.

And we conducted an undersea warfare trial off the east coast of Australia. 

Each trial takes the AUKUS nations closer to tangible technological advancement than we would achieve on our own.

Defence industry will have an increasingly important role in the development of AUKUS Advanced Capabilities. 

To that end, we’ve formed the AUKUS Advanced Capabilities Industry Forum to be the primary standing interface between trilateral governments and industry. 

NAVAL SHIPBUILDING AND SUSTAINMENT 

The other great nation-building project we have underway is the Naval Shipbuilding and Sustainment Enterprise.

The Albanese Government has committed to the most ambitious shipbuilding plan in Australian history, funded by the most significant investment in Navy’s surface fleet in decades. 

We have committed to build six Hunter class frigates in South Australia.

The Hunter class will be one of the most advanced anti-submarine warfare vessels in the world.

In June, we cut the first piece of steel to be used on the first Hunter Class Frigate, to be built by BAE Systems Australia. 

This kicks off the construction phase of the Hunter Class Frigate Program that will run for 20 years. 

At its peak this program will support around 3,000 direct jobs and a further 5,000 indirect jobs across the Australian supply chain.

There will be jobs in many Australian small and medium sized enterprises who will supply materials, equipment and parts like valves, steel, pipe, cable and ships furniture for the first three Hunter Class Frigates.

Queensland’s Craig International Ballistics will supply dozens of armoured windows for each frigate with protective qualities including ballistic protection, fire retardant properties and noise reduction. 

Redarc Australia will supply 79 different types of lights – more than 12,000 LED lights in total – including bunk and flood lights, weatherdeck and step lights, general and emergency lights.

Cold Logic from South Australia will build and install bespoke cold and cool rooms along with refrigeration machinery for the frigates.

And Babcock Australia is designing and manufacturing the Air Weapons handling system.

According to BAE, contracts with Australian suppliers now amount to over 60 per cent of its Australian Contract Expenditure in what is still only the early Design and Prototyping phase of the program.

That is a good outcome and we want to see it continue and to grow. 

This is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of opportunities to integrate supply chains.

A MODERNISED DEFENCE RELATIONSHIP

The National Defence Strategy makes clear that the United Kingdom is one of Australia’s key defence partners.

Earlier this year, we signed a refreshed Defence and Security Cooperation Agreement, which reflects our commitment to a more modern and dynamic defence partnership.

The agreement includes status of forces provisions that make it easier for our forces to operate together in each other’s countries – as we are doing with the joint training of Ukrainian troops in the UK, and as the UK will do through its contribution to Submarine Rotational Force-West in Australia.

Alongside the Agreement, we have embarked on a number of new initiatives to deepen our cooperation.

These include: 

• UK contributions to the Combined Intelligence Centre – Australia.
• Development of a Joint Climate Action Plan by AUKMIN 2025.
• Establishment of senior-level staff talks at the joint operational level.
• And ever closer engagement on key enablers like science and technology and the health of our workforces. 

CONCLUSION

The modern relationship between Australia and the United Kingdom is built on trust and respect.

On the ocean, our navy works with the United Kingdom’s two Indo-Pacific based Offshore Patrol Vessels and other vessels the UK deploys to our region.

On the ground, our forces work hand in hand in exercises of remarkable complexity. 

In the air, Australian and UK forces work together to enable strategic lift and demonstrate the ability to flow forces rapidly from the Euro-Atlantic to the Indo-Pacific.

All countries that benefit from the rules-based international order need to play a part in safeguarding it. 

Island nations like Australia and the United Kingdom are significant beneficiaries of the global rules based order, so it’s right that we work together with our regional partners to support the security and resilience of the region. 

Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today about how Australia is playing our part, in partnership with the UK. 

[ENDS]