Press Conference - Thales, Bendigo

SUBJECTS: Bendigo Bushmasters contract, local jobs, establishment of Second Long Range Fires Regiment, StrikeMaster contract, Australian support for Ukraine, Hunter class frigate construction.

FEDERAL MEMBER FOR BENDIGO, LISA CHESTERS: Good morning. Lisa Chesters, Federal Member for Bendigo, and very proud to be standing here again at Thales Bendigo with Minister Pat Conroy to make a very important announcement for this site. I say “again” because this is the fourth visit that the Minister has made to Bendigo since being sworn in as the minister responsible for defence materiel and defence manufacturing. 

Prior to the last election, this site was in trouble. There was no work secured by the previous Liberal National Government, but Labor, when elected and when Minister Pat Conroy was sworn in, got the importance of this site and got the importance of Bushmasters to be delivered to the Australian Army. So we’ve worked really hard with Thales to make sure that this site has a future. 

There’s over 250 employees at this site, including apprentices. They deserve a future. Bendigo has a proud defence manufacturing history, and we will have an exciting future, a Future Made in Australia, because of the Australian Labor Government. 

So I’m now going to hand over to the Minister to make a very important announcement for this site and for the men and women that work here. Thank you. 

MINISTER FOR DEFENCE INDUSTRY AND CAPABILITY DELIVERY PAT CONROY: Thank you, Lisa. It’s great be in Bendigo with Lisa Chesters, the fabulous and powerful advocate as the Federal Member for Bendigo. And thank you Jeff Connolly, CEO of Thales, for joining us as well today. And I want to acknowledge the workers, the management and the trade union representatives that are here today, particularly from the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and the ETU. 

We’re at the heart of the Australian Defence Industry right here at Thales Bendigo. Every activity that happens on site here every day is about making Australia safer. It’s about giving the brave men and women of the Australian Defence Force the equipment they need to defend Australia and deter aggression. And under the Albanese Labor Government we’re making record investments in the defence of the nation. We’ve committed an extra $50 billion to giving a modern ADF the equipment and the skills and personnel they need to defend Australia in the greatest strategic uncertainty we’re facing since World War II. 

As part of the modernisation of the ADF, we’re equipping the Australian Army with long-range strike. We’re taking and transforming the Australian Army from an army capable of striking 40 kilometres to an army capable of striking 500 and then eventually 1,000 kilometres away, which is all about deterring aggression in our region. 

As part of that, we’re standing up two regiments of long-range fires for the Australian Army to be based in Adelaide. As part of that, the second regiment is being established shortly, and I’m announcing today that as part of the establishment of the Second Long Range Fires Regiment we are awarding a contract to Thales Bendigo to manufacture over 40 new Bushmaster protected mobility vehicles. These vehicles will be providing what’s called command and control for that regiment. These vehicles will do the targeting and the coordination and communications that will allow that regiment to strike targets at range to deter aggression. 

These 40 new Bushmaster vehicles represent a contract in excess of $100 million for Thales Australia and secures the future of 250 direct jobs at this facility. Those 250 jobs are highly skilled jobs. They’re high-tech jobs. They’re advanced manufacturing jobs at the heart of Bendigo. That obviously will also support hundreds of follow-on jobs throughout the local economy. So this is a great day for the Bendigo workforce. It’s a great day for the Australian Army. And it’s a great day for making Australia safer. 

The Bushmaster vehicle is iconic in Australian folklore. The Bushmaster vehicle since it entered service in 2003 has saved lives. It’s saved Australian lives in the Middle East. It’s saving Ukrainian lives right now as they stand up to Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked and immoral war of aggression. And it’s in service in many countries around the world and it’s a testament to the skilled workforce here and the advocacy from Thales Australia, from the mighty trade union movement and from Lisa Chesters, the Member for Bendigo. 

As Lisa alluded to, since coming to power in 2022 the Albanese Labor Government has awarded over $300 million worth of contracts to Thales and ordered over 130 vehicles from the Bushmaster fleet. So I want to thank the workers here. I want to thank Jeff and the Thales management. I want to thank the unions, and I want to thank Lisa for her powerful advocacy. Today is about making Australia safer. It’s about defending Australia. And it’s about a Future Made in Australia and a Defence Future Made in Australia. 

I’ll invite Jeff to make some comments and then we’ll open up to some questions. 

JEFF CONNOLLY: Thanks, Pat. Thanks, Lisa. Not much to add, actually. A nod to the Government. And I think Pat mentioned that when they – when the current Government got into power we were looking for work. And two years later, two and a half years later, we’ve got a relationship I think with Lisa, with Pat, with Defence, with the colleagues at CASG where if we go and cooperate together, collaborate, we can actually do great things. And I need to give a shout-out also to our union colleagues because these sorts of things can’t be done in isolation; they must be done jointly. So thanks very much to Lisa and Pat and the AMWU in particular but the unions on site here. 

The second part I want to talk about is actually what this actually means is actually sustainment of advanced manufacturing capability in the country. There are not too many vehicle manufacturing sites left in Australia, and this is one and we have to protect it fiercely. And the jobs and everything that goes on here with the amount of certainty gives us the ability to invest in our apprentices and invest in the future so that we have something that helps the nation. 

More recently we’ve sort of taken our role – and I acknowledge Pat saying the amount of business that actually has come our way recently. But, again, I see that, Thales, as a unique part of Australia’s Defence Industry. We’ve got a unique heritage particularly here at Bendigo. And it is our role to do whatever the nation needs us to do from these sites that we look after. 

So on that note I’d say thanks and hand back to Pat. Thanks. 

MINISTER CONROY: Thanks, Jeff. I’ll invite questions first on today’s announcement and other defence matters, if anyone has any. 

JOURNALIST: Does today’s announcement mean Thales is now in the box seat to be awarded a contract for the StrikeMaster?

MINISTER CONROY: No, thanks for the question. Today’s announcement is unrelated to a decision on Land 8113 around long-range strike. As I said in my opening comments, we’re standing up a second regiment of long-range fires and we released a tender for that. There are two options. One, Thales has put forward in conjunction with Konigsberg and the other option has been put forward by Lockheed Martin. That’s an entirely separate tender that we’ll be looking at this year and you can look for an announcement at the end of the year. 

Regardless of what option we choose in terms of the missile and launcher, we need command and control vehicles. We need vehicles that will allow the army regiment to direct those missiles to target those missiles. And the Bushmaster vehicle is absolutely the right vehicle for that. 

So these 40 vehicles are unrelated to the launch vehicle. No matter who wins that contract, 40 Bushmasters will be made in this facility for the command and control element. 

JOURNALIST: Does the government have any reservations dealing with Thales while another part of the company is still being examined by the Corruption Commission? 

MINISTER CONROY: I’ve been asked about this multiple times. The allegation you’re referring to, firstly, is from 2017, so now eight years ago. Defence has thoroughly investigated the allegation and I’m advised that they were unable to substantiate that allegation. What the NACC decides to do for it is a question for them. But, as I said at my National Press Club speech, over 4,000 people work for Thales in this country. Every day they work, they get up and work to make Australia safer. And I’m very comfortable with the relationship the Australian Government has with Thales Australia. 

JOURNALIST: I’ve got one about Hawkei. Where are we up to with a permanent fix to that? Is that close, because I heard there was a temporary solution that [indistinct]? 

MINISTER CONROY: No, we’ve actually found a permanent fix for the Hawkei issue. The Hawkei is one of the most advanced light protected mobility vehicles in the world. It’s a testament to the skilled workers here that it was produced at this facility and it was the last Labor Government that fought very hard to get that contract awarded to Bendigo. A permanent fix has been found. It is being rolled out right now across the Hawkei fleet. Of the 10,000 – sorry, 1,098 Hawkei vehicles that are going to the Australian Army, I think about 180 are outstanding. The rest have been delivered to the Australian Army. And I want to thank the Thales workforce and the Australian Department of Defence for finding a solution and working really collectively together to find that solution. 

JOURNALIST: Are you still confident that Thales was the best company to be awarded the 155 munitions contract? 

MINISTER CONROY: Thales were identified as the preferred tenderer for the contract and we’re going through the detailed negotiations right now. Nothing has changed Defence’s opinion about why that contract – why Thales was chosen to be the preferred tenderer. Thales have a very skilled workforce at Benalla, Mulwala that is doing great work around explosive ordinance already. They do – they make small arms up at Lithgow, and I’m looking forward to those negotiations being finalised. 

JOURNALIST: 20 years now that we’ve had Bushmaster here. Is it time for some of them to come out of service and be replaced? 

MINISTER CONROY: We’ve had multiple generations of Bushmasters. They’ve been upgraded over time, and we’re always looking for new innovations. In fact, we released an electric Bushmaster very recently with the battery packs – if I can be parochial for a moment; I'm a politician – with the battery packs being done in my own electorate through a great company called 3ME partnering with Thales Australia. So we’re always looking for innovation. Those vehicles have done sterling service and the Australian Department of Defence is looking at what is the long-term future for some of the older Bushmasters right now. But they’ve protected Australian lives. They’re protecting Ukrainian lives right now. I was with Prime Minister Rabuka of Fiji last year and he was so pleased to be receiving Bushmasters for the Fijian military as well. 

JOURNALIST: Do you anticipate any more Bushmasters will go to Ukraine or will you build extra in anticipation that they’ll go overseas again? 

MINISTER CONROY: We’ve awarded contracts for around 130 Bushmasters since we’ve come to government. We’ll continue to talk to Ukraine about how we can support valued efforts against the Russian aggression. I was privileged to announce while I was at NATO last year that we will be donating our Abrams tank fleet to Ukraine. We’re privileged to be the largest non-NATO contributor of military equipment to Ukraine and we’re in constant discussions with Ukraine about how we can support their efforts. 

JOURNALIST: Is there a new catalyst there with Donald Trump coming in with the possibility of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine? Is there a new calculous starting to emerge on what you send over to Ukraine? 

MINISTER CONROY: Our position is that we will support Ukraine to end this war on their terms. That’s our position and it will continue be our position. And that’s why we’ve been so forward leaning in supporting them through the provision of military equipment and other aid. 

JOURNALIST: Are you satisfied with the progress of the Hunter Class? 

MINISTER CONROY: Since coming to – actually, I’m going to be a bit political in that answer. Jeff’s off shot anyway, but are there any other questions about today’s announcement before I answer that one? No? All right. 

When we came to power we found Defence in disarray because of the revolving door of ministers under the last Government. We had six coalition Defence Ministers in nine years. Goldfish lasted longer than Coalition Defence Ministers. And Peter Dutton left a massive mess. And at the top of that list was the Hunter Class acquisition. 

I’m delighted to say that through concerted work between the Albanese Labor Government and the Department of Defence we’ve got that project on track. Steel has been cut, production has begun on the Hunter class, and we remain on schedule for the revised time lines that we announced some time ago. That is one part of our modernisation of the Royal Australian Navy. We’ve committed to more than doubling the size of the surface combatant fleet. I announced late last year with Deputy Prime Minister Marles the identification of two companies to put forward options for the general purpose frigate, and we’ll be making an announcement about that by the end of the year. 

So we’re getting on with cleaning up the mess that Peter Dutton left us. What has been demonstrated over the last few years is Peter Dutton is a danger to national security. He was incompetent as Defence Minister and he’s incompetent as Opposition Leader. He's advocating right now a $50 billion cut to the Australian defence budget, and the only way to protect the nation and ensure that the country’s Defence Force gets the resources it needs is by re-electing a Labor government. Thank you very much, everyone.

JOURNALIST: Last question? 

MINISTER CONROY: Last question. 

JOURNALIST: Now that the brake issue is solved on the Hawkeis, how many are in operation? 

MINISTER CONROY: Well, as I said previously, of the 1,098 vehicles, all but 180 have been delivered to the Australian Army. So that’s 918 by my calculations have been delivered to the Australian Army. Thank you very much, everyone.

ENDS