Opening remarks, Hanwha Avalon

SUBJECTS: Hanwha, Defence Industry Australia

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER, RICHARD MARLES: Well, thank you. Can I also acknowledge the Wadawurrung people and pay my respects to elders past and present. Can I acknowledge Dean Michie, from Hanwha, who's about to speak, Major Generals Blain and Vagg behind me, Korean Ambassador Admiral Sim, fantastic to see you here as well. And I think I saw in the audience former Defence Minister Robert Hill, great to see you here as well, Robert, for what is a really significant moment. Today we are celebrating the handover of the first three of these vehicles- so the first two Huntsmans and the first of the armoured supply vehicle- you see two of them behind me now, to the Australian Army. These two, plus the other that will be handed over, were built in Korea, but today we are also celebrating, and acknowledging the commencement of production in Australia of these vehicles, which ultimately will see a run of 30 Huntsman and 15 supply vehicles, which will be done over the next three years with supply to the Australian Army during 2026 and 2027. On this day, there are 106 people working on the manufacture of the Huntsman and the resupply vehicle in this magnificent facility. And this is the foundation contract, really, for Hanwha establishing its facility here in Avalon. And of course, since this contract, we've seen Hanwha win the contract to build the infantry fighter vehicles- the red backs- and when production is up and running, in relation to that, this facility here is going to support 1,800 jobs, both here and across the supply chain. That's fantastic for our regional economy- speaking as the member for Corio- it's really fantastic in terms of Australian defence industry, and we're so excited about the presence of Hanwha in Australia. What that means as one of the most significant Hanwha facilities outside of the Korean Peninsula. What that means in terms of the contribution it makes to the bilateral relationship between Australia and Korea, which is really growing from strength to strength. We would as two countries be closer today than at any point in our respective histories, and we've been close. So that is actually saying something. But as we look forward, we see our relationship with Korea as being front and centre in terms of our world view, in terms of our national security and the defence industry component of that, which is underpinned by Hanwha and this facility here is so important. 

What this also does is greatly enhance the Australian army's capability. This will replace the M777 howitzers, which date back to the 1990s- they've been a really important piece of kit for the Australian Army. But this really takes things to a completely different level. We will see far fewer people need to operate this arrangement of vehicles. Right now, it's about ten people who operate and supply a single Howitzer- across two, that's 20 over the same number of howitzers we'll have about 13 people being able to operate these three vehicles. But to put it in context right now, the 155 millimetre shells, which weigh about 50 kilos, are manually put inside an M777. This is all done in an automated way. It makes it much safer for the people who are doing the work- they are actually safer in terms of their occupational health and safety, safer in terms of their protection- they are able to do it in a much more protected environment. But in turn, the rate of fire is so much quicker. This enables us to fire off far more rounds at a much quicker pace, to deliver much more lethality onto the target in a much shorter period of time. We are about trying to build a much more lethal but importantly much more mobile army. That's what comes out of the Defence Strategic Review and the National Defence Strategy, and this is a perfect example of how we are building a much more lethal and a much more mobile army. So we're really excited about today. It is a very significant moment, and I feel like this is going to be one of a number of times that we will all be coming back here and celebrating the progress of this incredible facility. Can I thank everyone in the Australian Defence Force, particularly Richard and Jason, and through you all the members of the Australian Army who have been a part of this procurement. And through you, Dean, can I thank everyone at Hanwha for the incredible effort in getting this facility up and running and now being at a point in time where we are seeing production begin on these incredible vehicles. It is a very exciting day for Australian defence industry and for the Australian Defence Force. Thank you.

ENDS