Press Conference, Sypaq Systems, Melbourne

MINISTER FOR DEFENCE INDUSTRY PAT CONROY: You just have to look around the world to understand the impact of drones on modern warfare. Whether it's in Ukraine or other recent conflicts, drones are changing the battlefield every day. And that's why it's so important to support the Australian Defence Force with the latest capability. And as part of the National Defence Strategy, the Albanese Labor Government has committed over $10 billion to support autonomous systems and drones. Today, I'm joined by General Richard Vagg, Head of Land Capability, General Jeremy King, Head of Joint Aviation Systems. I've got Amanda and George. George is the founder of SYPAQ, where we are today, and Mike from Quantum-Systems. As I said, drones are changing battlefields every day. Drones and autonomous systems are changing battlefields every day. That's why we've committed over $10 billion in the National Defence Strategy to support the Australian Defence Force's acquisition of the latest systems over the next ten years. And standing, situated behind me are some of the latest technology developed both in Australia and around the world that will be deployed by the ADF. And that's why I'm proud to announce today that the Albanese Labor Government is committing over $140 million to acquire 110 small uncrewed aerial systems. They include Quantum's Vector to my left and SYPAQ's CorvoX directly behind me. The CorvoX was developed here in Fisherman's Bend, the birthplace of Australian aviation.

Developed in conjunction with the Defence Innovation Hub grants provided by the Federal Government. Both these systems will support intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance for the Australian Army and the Royal Australian Air Force. They will allow us to protect troops by not exposing them to unnecessary fire while collecting information and will help drive targeting that will improve the combat effectiveness of our troops. Both systems will be deployed next year for the ADF, again demonstrating the speed to capability that the Albanese Labor Government is committed to in our defence force. They complement other recent announcements we've made on other capabilities, whether it's a last week's announcement of a loitering munition, the further investment in the Ghost Bat, a Loyal Wingman-style cooperative combat aircraft, or our record commitment in Ghost Shark, an extra-large autonomous underwater vessel. These are all about giving the Australian Defence Force the best capability we can get them to support them in the battlefields of the future. This is part of our $330 billion investment to keep Australians safe, to produce jobs, and help defend Australia. And I'm really proud that this investment will add another 30 jobs to the around 100,000 workers working in the Australian defence industry already today. So, I'll leave my prepared remarks there. Happy to answer any questions on today's announcement, and then if there's anything else you'd like to discuss, we might move some people on. So, are there any questions about today's announcement? No? Well, thank you for everyone being here today, I really appreciate it, and I'm really looking forward to a tour of the facility in a few moments. I might ask several people to exit stage right, so to speak, or stage left. I'm not quite sure how that works.

JOURNALIST: Other issue questions? 

MINISTER CONROY: Yes.

JOURNALIST: Thank you. So, Minister, can you confirm the now suspended private Kira Korolev once featured in Defence recruitment advertising, and what are your thoughts on current ADF recruitment?

MINISTER CONROY: Well, ADF recruitment is a key priority for the Australian Government and that's why we've increased massively things like retention bonuses to retain our ADF personnel, and I'm really pleased that our retention rates are exceeding the long-term average and recruitment rates are increasing. 

And we've obviously made recent announcements about opening up recruitment to Five Eyes countries, starting with New Zealand. On that particular matter, it's important to understand that the systems worked. The systems work, and that our intelligence agencies and the Australian Federal Police recognised what was occurring and have made a number of arrests, and obviously, these matters are going through the legal system, so it wouldn't be appropriate for me to comment further.

JOURNALIST: Are enough checks in place, and does there need to be more if recruitment will further open to foreign citizens?

MINISTER CONROY: Well, I should emphasise that our announcements around recruitment of foreign citizens or non-Australian citizens at the moment is limited to Five Eyes countries. These are countries that we trust to share our most important intelligence data with, and they share their most classified information with us, and we're starting with New Zealand. Every person who enters the ADF goes through very strong vetting services, vetting requirements, and nothing will change with the entry of non-Australian citizens from places like New Zealand or the United States.

JOURNALIST: Are there any concerns that a potential urgency to recruit is leading to mistakes being made?

​MINISTER CONROY: Absolutely not. We are confident we've got the systems in place to make sure that people are being appropriately vetted and then, obviously, our law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies will continue to monitor all avenues for any potential wrongdoing.

JOURNALIST: And has security recently tightened for Australian politicians, given recent events at electorate offices? And does this need to be revisited post-Trump's attempted assassination?

MINISTER CONROY: Well, the AFP Commissioner has been on the public record about the measures he's undertaken to help support parliamentarians doing their duty, and I'd refer you back to his comments. Obviously, we were appalled by what we witnessed in the United States over the weekend. Violence has no part in the democratic process, whether in the United States or Australia or around the world, and we're very relieved that former President Trump is safe and able to continue on his activities. 

We've been very clear, the Australian Government, that we are very worried by the nature of the debate in Australia. We think that both extremes, for example, the debate around the Middle East conflict, have been unhelpful and causing social division. We've been calling for people to come together. We don't want to see those divisions occurring in Australia. So, we call for responsible discourse in Australia and around the world. Great. Thank you very much.

ENDS