Doorstop, Brisbane

SUBJECTS: Visit to Rheinmetall; Boxer vehicles for the Australian Army; Queensland defence industry; Support for Ukraine. 

RICHARD MARLES, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's fantastic to be here at Rheinmetall’s facility in Brisbane. This is the home of the Australian Boxer program. Six months ago, we signed a contract with the German government, which will see more than 100 Boxers exported to Germany. In June, Australia received the first of its own Block II variant of the Boxer which was on display at Land Forces in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago. This morning, I've had the opportunity to sign the first turret which will go on the first of those more than 100 Boxers to be exported to Germany, the first of which will roll off the production line in 2026. All of this is supporting 600 jobs here on Australia's Boxer program, providing state of the art capability. 

This is in addition to what occurred in February of this year, where, with Boeing, we signed a contract for the sustainment of the Apache helicopters in the Australian Army. And last year, we signed a contract with Lockheed for the sustainment of Black Hawk helicopters. The contract with Boeing will see 230 jobs across Queensland. The contract with Lockheed will see 200 jobs, most of which will be in Queensland. We know that Queensland is a great defence state. So much of the Australian Defence Force is based right here in Queensland; two of our three infantry brigades, Amberley is one of the big air bases in Australia, HMAS Cairns is the home of patrol vessels and the way we project into the Pacific Ocean. But what this story makes clear is that Queensland is also a centre of defence industry. It is becoming a major defence industry state. And these are high paid, high skilled jobs, which are obviously great for the people who have them, but it's really important for the Queensland economy, because this is the kind of high tech capability which defence industry is bringing to the Queensland economy. And the Albanese Government is very pleased to be supporting this. 

REPORTER: Question from Canberra. Rheinmetall and NIOA operate a munitions artillery plant in Queensland, forging 155-millimeter projectiles, which Ukraine is crying out for. Would the Government be open to sending some of that locally produced ammo to help in its fight against Russia? 

MARLES: Well, NIOA and Rheinmetall, obviously a great joint venture in the making of the shell casings for the 155s, and there's no doubt that 155s are in great need in Ukraine. We're really pleased with the work that NIOA is doing and how the Maryborough plant is progressing. We continue to talk with the Ukrainian government about how we can best support them in their resistance against Russia's illegal invasion of their country. We made an announcement of a $250 million Australian package when I was at NATO back in July, earlier this year I was in Ukraine itself, and we announced another $100 million package. We've made clear to Ukraine that we will be there for as long as it takes for Ukraine to resolve this conflict on its terms, and we will work very closely with Ukraine about how that support can be best provided.

REPORTER: One more, how many Boxer vehicles were due to be delivered by the end of the year from MILVEHCOE? And have you been briefed on any delays or problems with the local build? 

MARLES: We are at a point where we've received our first Block II vehicles into the Australian Army. We're really pleased with that. That rolled off the production line in June. We've already got the Block Is in service, they were initially constructed in Germany, but finished off here in Australia. This is a program which is going really well. It is building capability for the Australian Army and we could not be happier with the progress of it. What you see here at the facility in Brisbane is just a testament to what Rheinmetall has done, but it's also a testament to Australian defence industry and Queensland defence industry.