Address to the National Press Club

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people as traditional custodians of the land we meet on … and recognise any other people or families with connection to the lands of the Australian Capital Territory and region.

I pay my respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women who have served in Australia’s armed forces.

And I thank all Australian Defence Force personnel for their service.

Senior leaders of the ADF and the Department of Defence.

Members of the Diplomatic Corps.

Members and directors of the National Press Club.

Colleagues and friends.

INTRODUCTION

These are troubling times.

We are witnessing conflicts in Europe and the Middle East.

While these conflicts are unfolding on the other side of the world, they are deeply affecting the lives of Australians and have significant implications for Australia’s international interests.

In our own region we face the most challenging strategic outlook since the Second World War.

In the face of these challenges, it’s imperative that national security is a common goal that unites us as a nation.

The Albanese Government regards safeguarding Australians as its most important responsibility.

This is why we are making record investments to deliver the men and women of the Australian Defence Force the capabilities they need to defend our nation and help make our region more secure.

It is why we are investing record amounts to grow a sovereign Australian defence industry, including spending more than $22 billion on domestic capability acquisition and sustainment last financial year.

A Government that is serious about defence and national security – as we are.

… That has made deterrence the cornerstone of our defence strategy – as we have.

… A Government that is committed to peace, security and stability – as we are, and always will be.

… Must be a Government that is absolutely dedicated to ensuring the Australian Defence Force has what it needs to protect Australia.

INVESTING IN DEFENCE CAPABILITY

The Albanese Government has an unwavering commitment to keeping Australians safe, reinforced by the Prime Minister’s decision to elevate the defence industry portfolio to Cabinet, with a focus on capability delivery.

Capability delivery is about making capability acquisition decisions faster, properly funding Defence to deliver new capabilities, and improving procurement and project delivery processes.

It means following through on what we announce.

And that is the record of the Albanese Government.

Since coming to office, the Government has sped up major defence capability acquisitions.

We have brought forward initial delivery dates for priority projects and shortened their overall time to completion.

After inheriting close to the oldest naval surface fleet since the Second World War, Labor is more than doubling the Royal Australian Navy’s fleet of warships.

The first of our new general purpose frigates will be delivered by 2029 – four years earlier than the first new warship planned by the former Government.

Decisions around capability delivery under AUKUS are being made at pace – including delivering conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines a decade earlier than the former Government’s plan.

The Army’s heavy landing craft – large new ships critical to an Army being transformed for littoral operations – will be launched seven years earlier than the former Government planned, with the first vessel to be delivered in 2028.

The Army will also start receiving its 18 medium landing craft from 2026, two years earlier than the former Government planned.

Delivery of new Infantry Fighting Vehicles for the Army has been accelerated, with the first vehicle now being delivered in 2027, compared to 2029.

Under Labor all 129 new Infantry Fighting Vehicles will be delivered by the time the first vehicle would have been delivered under the Coalition.

All of this is supported by an increase of $50 billion in defence funding over the next decade.

That’s $50 billion more than the former Coalition Government planned to invest in defence when it left office.

And it’s $50 billion more than Peter Dutton plans to invest in defence.

Labor is delivering the funding, making the decisions, and accelerating the delivery of capabilities to ensure our Defence Force can keep Australians safe and our region secure.

In my address today I will focus on one of the most critical elements of the Albanese Government’s policies for boosting Australia’s defence capabilities.

That is our program for a major uplift in missiles, other guided weapons and explosive ordnance for the Australian Defence Force.

THE NEW MISSILE AGE

Why do we need more missiles?

Strategic competition between the United States and China is a primary feature of Australia’s security environment.

That competition is at its sharpest in our region, the Indo-Pacific.

We live in a complex and uncertain world.

To look at missiles as a case in point – these weapons are increasing in numbers, speed, range and precision.

Missiles first emerged in modern warfare in the Second World War with the German V1 and V2 rockets.

Strategic thinking on missiles developed in the early years of the Cold War.

Over the decades missile technology has evolved, especially through precision guidance capabilities.

More states now wield them – and they are no longer the sole preserve of states.

Analysts believe we are now on the cusp of a new Indo-Pacific missile age.

In addition to the terrible damage missiles can wreak, they can also be used as tools of coercion.

In the language of strategy, they are persistent.

They pose a threat night and day, regardless of when or whether they are actually launched.

The modern missile age is defined by proliferation and by rapid technological advances – often accompanied by a lack of transparency or strategic reassurance.

In this world, we have a choice.

We can watch and wring our hands, or we can respond.

We can make sure that Australia can hold an adversary at risk through our northern approaches.

We can seek to deter conflict or attempts to coerce Australia by force and, in this way, contribute to regional security.

We can work closely with our ally, the United States, and with other key partners in the Indo-Pacific, such as Japan and the Republic of Korea – partners that share our concerns and are prepared to strengthen cooperation in support of shared interests.

WHAT THE NEW MISSILE AGE MEANS FOR AUSTRALIA

The Defence Strategic Review concluded that the rise of this new missile age – crystallised by the proliferation of long-range precision strike weapons – has radically reduced the advantages of Australia’s geography.

It has removed the “comfort of distance” and eroded our regional capability edge.

In response, the Defence Strategic Review recommended urgent acquisition of long-range strike capabilities.

Long-range strike is critical to deterrence.

It enables the Australian Defence Force to hold an adversary’s forces at risk at greater distances.

In today’s strategic environment, this is critical to denying any potential adversary’s attempt to project power against Australia through our northern approaches.

But there can be protracted lead times for securing these weapons.

Global production capacity is limited and cannot surge quickly.

Australia has not been manufacturing these weapons – that means we are dependent on imports for these critical national security capabilities.

So, as well as acquiring more missiles, more rapidly from our partners, we need to build a new Australian guided weapons manufacturing industry.

The Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Enterprise – known as GWEO – is our answer to protecting Australia in the missile age.

It’s a combination of action to grow our national munitions and missile stockpile, while building the industrial base to manufacture guided weapons and explosive ordnance in this country.

Real progress is being made, very quickly.

But it came off a very low base.

When we came to Government, we inherited a budget way short of what was needed.

After nine years in office, all the former Government had produced on guided weapons and explosive ordnance were two flimsy media releases.

Unlike the Coalition, the Albanese Government has fully-funded, highly-detailed and well-advanced policies.

Policies to provide the Australian Defence Force with the missile capabilities it needs to keep our country safe by deterring any conflict before it begins.

INVESTING IN NEW STRIKE CAPABILITIES …

We have identified long-range strike as an immediate priority in response to the Defence Strategic Review.

We have adopted a Defence Industry Development Strategy that commits to developing a sovereign ability to produce, maintain, repair and overhaul select weapons.

And we have allocated up to $74 billion of the Defence Integrated Investment Program over the next decade for targeting and long-range strike, missile defence, and our new guided weapons and explosive ordnance initiatives.

The Albanese Government has embarked on the biggest increase in Australian missile capabilities in history.

We are increasing the Defence Force’s strike capabilities, across multiple dimensions:

• Quantity – more missiles, guided weapons and munitions.
• Quality – more advanced capabilities.
• Range – the ability to strike over greater distances.
• And self-reliance – with local manufacturing underwriting the Defence Force’s access to these weapons.

Let me spend some time unpacking the Government’s missile acquisition decisions across each of the armed services.

… FOR THE AUSTRALIAN NAVY

For the Australian Navy, we are acquiring the Naval Strike Missile, one of the most advanced ship-destroying missiles in the world.

The Naval Strike Missile can operate as an anti-ship or land-strike weapon.

We are purchasing more than 200 Tomahawk cruise missiles for the Navy’s Hobart Class destroyers and will examine including these missiles in the new Hunter Class frigates.

The Tomahawk is a long-range, land-attack cruise missile with a range of more than 2,500 kilometres.

Our new Tomahawk missiles will be in our fleet by the end of this year.

Australia will be only the third nation to have them, after the United States and the United Kingdom.

They will increase our Navy’s maximum weapon range more than ten-fold.

This will build on our decision in February to create a larger and more lethal surface combatant fleet for the Navy – more than doubling the number of warships compared to the former Government’s plan.

Back in the dreadnought era, the lethality of warships was determined by their sheer tonnage.

Today, the ability to hold an enemy at risk can be measured by the number of missile cells – the launch cells on warships that hold missiles ready for firing – and by the capability of those missiles.

Under the Coalition’s plans, the Navy’s fleet of warships would have had a total of 432 missile cells.

Under the Albanese Government’s plans, we will more than double Navy’s lethality, delivering a surface combatant fleet with 880 missile cells.

This numerical boost will be accompanied by a boost in the sophistication of our naval missile capabilities.

We will have surface combatants armed with the most advanced air and missile defence weapons in the world, with the acquisition of the Standard Missile 2 Block IIIC and the Standard Missile 6, announced last week.

These are sophisticated medium and long-range, surface-to-air missiles which will provide our warships with both offensive and defensive capabilities.

The Albanese Government made the decision to accelerate delivery of the SM-6 missile to the Navy by four years and we have this capability right now on our Hobart class destroyers.

… AIR FORCE

For the Royal Australian Air Force, the Government is making significant investments in air-launched strike.

We’ve decided to acquire up to 100 of the new, extended range version of the Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missiles.

These are specialised, air-to-ground missiles used to target enemy radar systems, with a range of 300 kilometres.

They will be deployed on the Air Force’s Growler and Super Hornet aircraft and, in future, on the Joint Strike Fighter.

With the support of our friends in Norway, we have committed to accelerated acquisition of Joint Strike Missiles from next year.

The Joint Strike Missile is a medium-range cruise missile.

It is designed to fit into the Joint Strike Fighter’s internal weapon bay, preserving the aircraft’s stealth characteristics. 

With a range of more than 275 kilometres, the JSM’s low-altitude sea-skimming flight profile helps it delay detection and engagement by a target’s defence system.

This is a concrete example of how the Government is rapidly building sufficient stocks of guided weapons to hold an adversary at risk.

We are also arming the Air Force with advanced long-range weapons such as:

• The Long Range Anti-Ship Missile, with a range of more than 370 kilometres.
• And the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile – Extended Range that can strike highly defended targets at ranges of up to 900 kilometres.

… AND ARMY

We are also delivering an Army with greater long-range strike capability.

This is transformational reform that has been embraced by our soldiers – from the Chief of Army down to the newest recruit.

To deliver it we are engaged in the largest re-capitalisation of Army’s equipment in its history.

The Army’s 10th Brigade, to be based in Adelaide, was raised as a “Fires” brigade in January this year, capable of precise and long-range strike against land and maritime targets.

The Government is acquiring new Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System missiles for the Army.

These are short-range, precision, surface-to-surface rocket systems.

To ensure our Army has the tools it needs, the Government has more than doubled the number of High Mobility Artillery Rocket System launchers being acquired for the Army and brought forward their introduction.

HIMARS are land-based, long-range, surface-to-surface weapons systems.

We are also planning to acquire the Precision Strike Missile, which will initially have a range of 500 kilometres, with future development taking it out to 1,000 kilometres.

INVESTING IN MISSILE DEFENCE

If you are going to be serious about missiles, you’ve also got to be serious about missile defence.

That’s why the Government is developing systems which are integrated across air, land, sea, space and cyber.

To do that we are investing $14 to $18 billion across the decade.

We are delivering a Joint Air Battle Management System that will integrate air and missile defence capabilities across the ADF to ensure coordinated, timely and accurate responses to threats.

The Joint Air Battle Management System will be the “brains” of our air and missile defence.

It will bring together current and future missile defence weapons to ensure we can respond effectively from land, sea and air.

This aspect of missile defence is a critical challenge for the future as we will need our systems to be able to respond to the potential for ever more complex and multi-threat scenarios.

But we are also delivering missile defence right now.

Last November, Army conducted the first live-fire of the National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System, successfully knocking a target drone out of the sky at 5,000 feet.

Air Force’s Joint Strike Fighters and Super Hornets will also contribute to missile defence.

The acquisition of SM-2 and SM-6 missiles I mentioned earlier will also enhance our current layered air and missile defence – and, for the first time, introduce a terminal ballistic missile defence capability.

THE ALBANESE GOVERNMENT’S HISTORIC MISSILE UPLIFT

That’s a lot of detail – and a lot of missile acronyms!

What does it all add up to?

• A Navy which will go from a legacy fleet with a maximum weapon range of 200 kilometres to a fleet with a maximum range of over 2,500 kilometres.
• An Air Force which will go from a current weapon range of over 100 kilometres to having aircraft with weapons able to strike at up to 900 kilometres.
• And an Army transformed from a legacy force with a maximum weapon range of 40 kilometres to a littoral manoeuvre force capable of land and maritime strike to 1,000 kilometres.

More missiles, across a wider variety of advanced capabilities, with longer range, greater stealth and higher sophistication.

An Australian Defence Force with greater ability to deter adversaries across longer distances.

An Australian Defence Force to meet the strategic challenges of today rather than those of yesterday.

An Australian Defence Force better equipped to keep Australians safe.

WHY WE NEED TO MAKE GUIDED WEAPONS IN AUSTRALIA …

In a world marked by supply chain disruption and strategic fragility, Australia needs not only to acquire more missiles, but to make more here at home.

Our network of international partners has enabled us to secure capabilities like the Tomahawk and LRASM that we would otherwise be unable to acquire.

But it has also highlighted the challenges we face.

Putin’s illegal war against Ukraine is using munitions at an industrial scale.

Nearly seven years’ worth of Javelin Anti-Tank Guided Missiles were used in the first month of the war.

And over 10,000 rounds of 155-millimetre artillery shells were used in a single day last year – equivalent to a full month of European production of these shells.

We talk about buying Defence capabilities “off the shelf.”

But when it comes to munitions, the global shelves are not being restocked as quickly as we would like.

This has been compounded by supply chain bottlenecks, a lack of production capacity and a shortage of raw materials.

There’s not much slack in the supply chain and lots of customers are waiting to be served.

That’s why we need to make and maintain guided weapons and explosive ordnance in Australia – this will make us more self-reliant, and more resistant to coercion.

Australia has the foundations needed for a world-class guided weapons and explosive ordnance manufacturing industry.

We can create a new industry that will make us more secure while creating skilled jobs for Australian workers.

This Defence Future Made in Australia is a once in a generation opportunity to ensure our economic and strategic security at the same time.

… WHICH MEANS SUPPORTING AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING

The former Government left a funding drought in the first decade of the Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Enterprise.

The Albanese Government has fixed this with an initial $2.5 billion dollars over the forward estimates, an increase of more than $1.5 billion dollars.

And in April this year we committed $16 to $21 billion over the next decade.

We have taken decisions that will see manufacture of Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems commence in Australia next year.

This is a hugely important initiative.

Producing GMLRS missiles in Australia is the stepping stone towards local production of more advanced, longer-range strike weapons in the future – local production that is essential to our sovereignty and our security.

And we are ensuring that local manufacturing of Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems will continue over the long term with a permanent factory.

Today, I announce that the Albanese Government, in partnership with Lockheed Martin Australia, will establish a new Australian Weapons Manufacturing Complex.

This new facility will be capable of producing 4,000 GMLRS a year from later in this decade.

This equates to more than a quarter of current global GMLRS production and more than ten times current Australian Defence Force demand.

We are examining sites across New South Wales and Victoria with site selection to be completed next year.

The Government will invest an initial $316 million for the new complex.

This will be the first facility outside the United States that will produce GMLRS.

It will create around 70 skilled manufacturing jobs.

And it will be able to manufacture other weapons including more advanced strike weapons, such as the Precision Strike Missile family.

I also announce today that the Government will partner with Thales Australia to manufacture 155-millimetre M795 artillery ammunition at the Commonwealth-owned Benalla munitions facility.

This will be the first dedicated facility outside the United States to manufacture this artillery round.

By 2028, it will produce 15,000 rounds a year – and it will have the capacity to scale up to produce 100,000 rounds a year, supporting 550 jobs.

This will allow Australia to make ammunition for export markets – delivering more work for Australian businesses as global demand for this round from trusted partners has outstripped current supply.

I am also pleased to report that we are well advanced in plans to produce Naval Strike Missiles in Australia.

In September, I opened Kongsberg’s new South Australian facility, where up to 150 workers will be engaged on Defence projects – including assembling launchers for the Naval Strike Missile, using mostly Australian-manufactured components.

From 2027, Naval Strike Missiles and Joint Strike Missiles will be made in Australia at a new facility near Newcastle, thanks to our strategic partnership with Kongsberg.

The Government has committed $850 million to this new facility.

Under our current schedule, this will be the first facility outside Norway and only the second facility in the world capable of manufacturing both Naval Strike Missiles and Joint Strike Missiles.

The facility will create more than 500 jobs in the construction phase and deliver almost $100 million dollars in economic benefits to the Hunter region.

And last month I announced that the Government is investing in a sovereign rocket motor program.

The Government is seeking options from industry to establish a manufacturing complex that will produce rocket motors for some of the world’s most advanced missiles.

Rocket motors are a critical component of missiles and most guided weapons.

Our initiative to establish local rocket motor production will be backed by an initial investment of $22 million over the next three years.

The project is expected to begin production by the end of the decade, and to be capable of making multiple types of solid rocket motors, starting with GMLRS rocket motors.

These initiatives are underpinned by billions of dollars of investment, supporting thousands of jobs.

They will strengthen our national and economic security as part of the Government’s broader Future Made in Australia agenda.

WORKING WITH INDUSTRY – A NEW GWEO PLAN

Australia’s defence industry and its workforce are crucial partners in our drive to make more munitions at home.

But if Government expects businesses to invest, plan, and take risks, we need to provide industry with a clear roadmap for the future.

That’s why I am releasing the Australian Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Plan today.

This Plan sets out the strategy, program and ambition for guided weapons and explosive ordnance.

It delivers clarity and assurance for Australian industry and international partners on opportunities to support our GWEO enterprise.

We need skilled Australian workers to manufacture guided weapons and their critical components.

We need Australian scientists and researchers to drive innovation in new technologies like loitering munitions and advanced manufacturing processes.

And we need Australian education institutions to train the skilled workforce for defence industry.

The former Government had zero real commitment to manufacturing missiles and guided weapons in Australia.

By contrast, under our plan, by the end of this decade Australia will have:

• At least two guided missile factories.
• A dedicated rocket motor manufacturing facility.
• And a facility capable of producing up to 100,000 artillery ammunition rounds a year.

We’ll start with manufacturing weapons using imported components – as we are doing with Kongsberg for the Naval and Joint Strike Missiles and with Lockheed Martin Australia for the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems.

Then we’ll support Australian companies to manufacture and maintain critical components.

And we are turbo-charging efforts to help Australia’s defence industry to enter international guided weapons and explosive ordnance supply chains. 

Today I announce that through our Australian GWEO Plan, the Albanese Government has committed over $500 million dollars across manufacturing projects to boost the Australian supply chain.

This will be critical in helping more Australian businesses make more componentry for locally-built missiles and in opening up export opportunities.

Right now, we have Australian companies already in contract to make and supply components.

This year alone, Kongsberg has engaged NSW-based company, Nupress Group, to manufacture and deliver launcher mechanical components for the Naval Strike Missile.

Kongsberg has also engaged Victorian-based Stahl Metal for the NSM’s electrical control and cable harness systems.

Every Joint Strike Missile has Australian ingenuity inside it, courtesy of passive radio frequency sensors manufactured in Adelaide by BAE Systems Australia.

I am pleased to announce that there will be a tripling of production of these sensors being supplied to Kongsberg under a new $160 million contract with BAE Systems.

This will provide over 1,000 Australian-made sensors for Joint Strike Missiles around the world.

Additionally, BAE’s contract with the NATO consortium will see a significant increase in Australian components used in the Block 2 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile.

Through our Strategic Partners, we will increase Australian manufactured components.

For example, Lockheed Martin has identified more than 40 Australian small to medium enterprises to be part of the GMLRS program and its broader supply chain.

CONCLUSION

Friends, all of the Government’s efforts in defence and foreign policy have the goal of averting conflict, and building a safe, secure and prosperous region.

We all wish that acquiring new weapons and munitions was not necessary.

But in a world marked by crisis and disorder, a well-equipped military is an essential part of national defence.

We must be clear-eyed about the security environment in the Indo‑Pacific.

We face intensifying strategic competition, rapid military build-up and coercive state behaviour.

In this environment, Australia needs credible military capability to support a strategy of deterrence by denial.

We must show potential adversaries that hostile acts against Australia would not succeed and could not be sustained if conflict were protracted.

We must demonstrate to all countries that the costs of aggression continue to outweigh the benefits.

Long-range strike is critical to this strategy of deterrence.

It enables the Australian Defence Force to hold an adversary’s forces at risk at greater distances.

But there are protracted lead times for securing these weapons.

Global production capacity is limited and cannot surge quickly.

So, the time to build stockpiles and Australian industrial capacity is now.

The former Coalition Government abrogated its most important responsibility of keeping Australians safe.

When I took up my ministerial portfolio, I inherited a guided weapons enterprise that was grossly underfunded and a plan that consisted of nothing more than two media releases.

In only two and a half years, the Albanese Government has turned words into substance, giving the defence of our nation the serious attention it deserves.

The results speak for themselves.

We are dramatically boosting the Australian Defence Force’s strike capabilities.

And we are building a whole new Australian manufacturing sector – part of the Government’s Future Made in Australia agenda – to improve our access to these weapons and create jobs into the future.

Our approach draws on Australia’s proud history as a manufacturing nation.

It invests in the nation’s future as an innovator and manufacturer.

And, most importantly of all, it will make Australians safer and more secure. 

[ENDS]