Wednesday, 2 April 2025

Motions

Defence industry

Jeff BOURMAN (Eastern Victoria) (16:04): I move:

That this house notes that:

(1) in 2022–23, the Australian defence industry contributed $10.6 billion to Australia’s gross value added (GVA), up 4.1 per cent from the previous year and in the same period the industry consisted of 5544 businesses and employed 64,100 persons, up 6.3 per cent;

(2) the top three industries account for 75.6 per cent of the total defence industry GVA, with the three largest contributors being:

(a) professional, scientific and technical services;

(b) manufacturing;

(c) construction;

(3) the states with the largest defence industry GVA growth between 2021–22 and 2022–23 were:

(a) NSW, up $370 million;

(b) South Australia, up $125 million;

(c) Western Australia, up $58 million;

(4) Victoria rates fifth in manufacturing, second in construction, and third in professional, scientific and technical services of defence industry GVA, with currently 24,000 defence industry jobs in Victoria;

(5) in March 2023, unemployment in Gippsland rose from 6800 to 7100 while youth unemployment jumped from 3400 to 6600;

(6) Gippsland’s largest employment industries are health care and social assistance, and education and training;

(7) the number of 15- to 64-year-olds on JobSeeker income support payments in Gippsland is 13,360 or 7.6 per cent of the community;

and calls on the government to work with the federal government, defence and industry to develop critical information and provide networking opportunities along with support and advocacy services to develop a plan for increasing employment opportunities in the defence industry for Gippsland.

Sadly, war and defence industries have been a crucible for development, and very quick development, of technology. You have just got to look at World War I with the air war. At the beginning of the 1914 to 1918 war planes could barely move, and by the end they had multi-engine bombers and were flying higher than they ever thought. Plus with World War II they had jets by the end of it.

Anyway, paragraph (b) is about manufacturing: obviously we have to make stuff to use for our defence. With construction, we have to have somewhere to put it. This is getting to where I am going. The states with the largest defence industry GVA growth between 2021–22 and 2022–23 were New South Wales, up $370 million; South Australia, up $125 million; and Western Australia, up $58 million. Victoria ranks fifth in manufacturing, second in construction and third in professional, scientific and technical services of defence, with currently 24,000 defence industry jobs in Australia.

One of the things I found whilst I was at the air show last week was how many little defence industries are just squirrelled away around the place. I had a look at the F-35 bits and pieces, the newest fighter we have at the moment, and there was a display. One of the displays was of a guy basically with a forged right-angle casting turning it into a machined work of art. This was just one little guy. There were gun carriages, the things they bolt the guns into, which then bolt to the plane. There were all sorts of things going on that you would not think. There were also people like Marand, who do the carbon fibre, the vertical stabilisers, if I recall correctly.

With all this good stuff there is some bad stuff. In March 2023 unemployment in Gippsland rose from 6800 to 7100 whilst youth unemployment jumped from 3400 to 6600. Gippsland’s largest employment industries are health care, social assistance and education and training, and the number of 15- to 64-year-olds on JobSeeker income support payments in Gippsland is about 7.6 per cent of the community. What I am calling on is for the government to work with the federal government, defence and industry to develop critical information and networking opportunities with the support advocacy services to develop a plan for increasing opportunity in the defence field.

The timing of this is not accidental. We have a problem with higher unemployment; we have the timber industry gone from Gippsland; we have the coal-fired power industry reducing; we have got a ready-made workforce; and sadly, the world’s geopolitical situation is declining rapidly – we just have to look at some of the stunts that other countries are doing near our borders. It is time that Australia’s defence industry is supercharged. We hopefully will never need it, but we may need the capability. We may need to defend the Commonwealth from any potential threats to our security. This can form physical threats, this can form cyber threats. The federal government response to this has committed to increasing defence spending to confront these threats. This global uncertainty gives Victoria the opportunity to lead the further development of defence manufacturing. We have space, we have – for the moment – power and we have the workforce. We can as a government encourage the sector to replace the industries that have been going from Victoria in the recent decades, and obviously being one of the member for Eastern Gippsland I want to make it happen in the Gippsland area. Gippsland has a long history of manufacturing and heavy industry. It has a long history of providing the power for pretty well Victoria for over a century, and there are a lot of technical skills and knowledge that are going to go to waste if we do not do something about it.

It is not to say Victoria is a wasteland of defence industries; there are numerous defence companies that are vital to the construction of some of the world’s most technically complex military vehicles. Two of these companies, Lovitt Technologies and ILIAS Solutions, manufacture parts for the F-35, much like I was saying before. That F-35 is flown by 20 nations and is Australia’s premier military aircraft. It was at the Avalon air show last week. It is quite an impressive machine, and as a country, we need more.

What this says is we have the capability. What this says is that we as a state can do it. We have people, we have places and we have power. I want further employment opportunities that will not only give defence capability and not only attend to the Gippsland economy but will also attend to the Victorian economy. As I have always said, with jobs comes the ability of eight hours work, eight hours recreation and eight hours sleep. With that eight hours recreation we can go shooting; fishing; farming, which is more work than recreation, boating; four-wheel driving – all those sorts of things. When more people are in gainful employment, the crime goes down. There is a crime problem across Victoria – across Australia, to be honest. You know the old saying, ‘Idle hands make the devil’s work.’ What that means is if we give people jobs, it will just naturally drive the crime rate down. People have got to go to work, they have got to get up, and they will have that –

Sheena Watt interjected.

Jeff Bourman: Yes, earn a buck. They will have that feeling of contributing to society. That makes people feel better about themselves. And we will drive down the crime and drive up the GDP of the state. Gippsland, unfortunately, has a higher proportion of people needing JobSeeker income. It is 3 per cent above the rest of Victoria. I could wax lyrical as to why this is happening, but really it is what it is. We have got to look forward, not back.

Gippsland had quite an important, historical role in the military history of Australia. In 1943 RAAF Base East Sale – which I lived at twice, both times as a preschooler – opened during World War II and has trained over 3000 aircrew. Also, aircraft from this base protected naval convoys along Australia’s south-east coast. We look at it now from our point of view of what is going on and we have geopolitical threats, but in the 1940s it was not a threat; it was a reality. So dotted across the place out near Mallacoota, I believe, there is an airfield and there is a bunker that is actually a museum. Dotted across Australia there are all these little places where, when we needed them, we made room for them. What I would like is to see more of the projection of the strength, projection of Victoria and Australia rising to the occasion, so we do not need to go to war. The last thing we want is war. Back in the 1940s we did not have much of a choice. Back then we were joined at the hip with the UK. We went on with them and then we ended up fighting Japan at the time. That was then; I say this is now.

Currently East Sale employs 700 defence personnel, and its main role is the training of Australia’s RAAF pilots, who play a critical role in defence of this part of the Commonwealth. What I found very interesting during the air show, whilst I was looking at all planes flying around, was learning about the universities. Federation University, Swinburne and TAFE Gippsland all have a large presence in Gippsland obviously, but they also provide a lot of technical education. This is not making a plane out of wood and canvas and some radial engines; now it is computerised. You have to make stuff within tolerances that were just unimaginable 80 years ago. We have the capability; we have the ability to teach people and we have the teachers. One example of this is the Aerostructures Innovation Research Hub. This is a Swinburne University facility that drives research in the fields of aerospace, complex manufacturing and advanced air operations. One of its primary locations is at Latrobe Regional Airport in Morwell.

What I did not know – which I should have known, being a bit of an aircraft nerd – is there is an aircraft manufacturer in Gippsland called GippsAero, surprisingly, and it makes a light utility aircraft, the GA8 Airvan. The company was founded in 1977 by Peter Furlong and produces aircraft that have been sold in the US and Europe as well as Australia. It is still 100 per cent owned, and it shows that, albeit on small scale, the ability to do these things is still well and truly here. We are poised and we are on the precipice of being able to drive a lot of the problems that we have in our state down. What we do have around the rest of the country – and I am not sure when this happened so I am not giving it to either side of the aisle here, just the federal government – is a new forging facility from Thales in Victoria for the construction of the 155-millimetre artillery shells in Benalla. Also there was a forging plant – I think it was in conjunction with Rheinmetall – with NIOA Munitions in Maryborough, Queensland; this was some time ago. I also recall that there was a contract that we were fighting for in Australia for a vehicle which I cannot recall off the top of my head, and the manufacturer of it was to be in Victoria. Unfortunately, we lost it to Queensland. My job is not to take work away from NIOA Munitions; my job is to get them to spend their money down here. The AUKUS treaty pact will see an investment around the nation, particularly with naval skills and training in Victoria. We do have quite a coastline for a small state, so whilst Gippsland has a lot of it, I think historically most of our naval stuff has been done in Melbourne, in Port Phillip Bay. Someone will correct me, no doubt. So it is important that the Victorian government lobbies for further defence projects to be built in Gippsland. I believe we can make a tangible difference to our ability to defend our country.

Also, there are other offshoots as well as defence. One of the things I did see at the air show was there were a lot of drones of different sorts, and we are not talking about the little drones you can fly around and take selfies with and all that sort of thing. This thing was bigger than me, but what it was designed for was if you had offshore wind farms, instead of sending a boat out there in weather that would be pretty ordinary, this great big drone flies out there, does an inspection and flies back, with someone just sitting safely onshore. This takes away the problems we have with, first of all, time, distance, cost and danger to people. We can all have our own opinions on offshore wind farms, but the point is you cannot just put them out there and just ignore them. There are bleed-offs to where things can go, and this goes back to what I was saying about that military technology driving innovation.

It is interesting – in the course of doing this I came across the Victorian Defence Vision Statement: Victoria’s Defence Sector in 2030 from the government. I do not have enough time to go through it, but basically it is to secure, grow and train, and we need to do this from the point of view of all the problems that we have as a state that we can deal with. Swinburne was, surprisingly to me, sort of very deep in this whole thing. I intend on going out to have a look at their facilities over the break. I mean, they were doing something with supersonic and hypersonic air vehicles, composite materials and a lot of research to do with various aerospace stuff. Latrobe Valley has a facility at the airport, which is quite a cool little airport, but we could have it as a cool big airport. In fact in 2024, which was only last year, Swinburne became the first foundation member of the Latrobe Aerospace Technology Precinct. In 2023 – and I am reading obviously from Swinburne’s blurb here – Swinburne achieved the first flight of an Australian-developed hydrogen fuel cell electric power VTOL, vertical take-off and landing, drone in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley. Obviously hydrogen power is one of those things – you can get hydrogen from coal, and one thing about Gippsland is we do have coal. One of the other smaller companies I came across in the thing was called Ferra, who do design, manufacture and assembly of complex systems for strategic platforms. It is obviously a way of just saying that they design strategic military stuff.

One of the things I did find from talking to people which is not in any of these documents is there is a skills shortage, and the skills shortage is a labour shortage of a specialised kind. When I say ‘fitters and turners’, it is not just people with a lathe or a mill these days; there are complex computer numerical control operations that need to be done. Making stuff for the F-35, for instance: you cannot just sit there with a pair of calipers at home and design this part and make it happen. If you screw up a part even just a small bit, it can lead to a catastrophic failure of an aeroplane, and then they have to ground them all. I was having a look at the quality of some of the output and it was just astounding, but when asked what they wanted it was one of two things. Most of the time it was more skilled people, which means TAFEs and places like Swinburne and Federation Uni are going to have to step up and offer courses that will give an industry-specific set of skills so that people are coming out and able to just use the machinery. Obviously you go through an apprenticeship – this, that and the other. But the other thing was sometimes land. Obviously, land in Victoria is quite a premium product, and if you are a small company developing a widget for a supersonic jet fighter, maybe you can do it in a small garage, maybe you cannot. But one thing that is always a problem is finding an appropriate amount of land and of course investment.

I am going to wrap this up, but just to basically recap, we have an opportunity. We are not in dark times. I hope we never get into dark times. But I look at the geopolitical situation we are in, and it could be better. I do not want to be the UK in the late 1930s where when something does happen we are playing catch-up. We need to be ready; we need to have the people, the machinery, the products, the ability. We have a small military, but I would say pound for pound it is probably the best military in the world. It has always fought harder than its size would suggest – I do not have the time to go into it. But this is an opportunity for the government. This is an opportunity for governments. This is an opportunity for TAFEs and universities. This is an opportunity for the sector to have a go and attend to their problems and also bring up the area of Gippsland and give it the ability to grow back to what it was – a regional powerhouse.

Sheena WATT (Northern Metropolitan) (16:23): I rise to support Mr Bourman’s motion and acknowledge his advocacy for jobs and opportunity in Gippsland. This motion before us goes to the very heart of what matters to regional communities: secure employment, meaningful career pathways and the ability to build a life close to home. I would like to say for the Allan Labor government these priorities are not new. We have always understood that skills and training are central to job creation, particularly in regional Victoria. That is why we have made record investments in TAFE, because when we back skills we back people.

Our commitment to a public TAFE has helped drive jobs growth right across the state. Since we came to office more than 140,000 jobs have been created in regional Victoria. We have seen regional unemployment fall from 6.6 per cent under the former government to just 4 per cent today; in fact it is lower than in metropolitan Melbourne. And it is no accident. That is Labor policy in action – a strong economy supported by a strong TAFE system, helping people into secure and rewarding work.

Gippsland has directly benefited from these policies. From Morwell to Sale and Traralgon to Bairnsdale, our regional TAFEs are equipping locals with the skills they need to thrive in industries like advanced manufacturing, clean energy and defence. Let us take a moment to examine the defence industry, a sector where Gippsland is already punching well, well, well above its weight. Whether it is the RAAF base in East Sale, the growing aviation capability in West Sale or the broader defence supply chain that links into major projects across the state, Gippsland is becoming a real hub of activity, and I am so glad to see that we in fact have four members in here representing Eastern Victoria.

Can I say: none of this, not a single bit of this, happens without skilled workers. That is why our investment in free TAFE and the broader Skills First initiative has been so critical. Since launching free TAFE in 2019 more than 156,000 students have enrolled in priority courses designed to meet the needs of industries for real long-term career opportunities. Many of these are available in Gippsland through providers like TAFE Gippsland – courses in engineering, construction, IT, automotive and electrotechnology, just to name a few – and they are all equipping locals with skills that align with defence and advanced manufacturing. We are not just talking training for training’s sake – we have had enough of that – we are creating clear pathways into real jobs. Through our defence industry workforce development program we are supporting students and jobseekers to enter the defence sector through targeted internships, training programs and upskilling opportunities. One stand-out is the work we are doing for the Defence Science Institute, which is co-funded by the Victorian government. The DSI links our world-class universities and TAFEs with industry, enabling practical experience and innovation that translates directly into workforce outcomes. That is what a modern TAFE system looks like: connected to industry, delivering real results and changing lives.

Gippsland’s contribution to our sovereign defence capability continues to grow. Earlier this year Lockheed Martin selected Martin-Baker Australia based in East Sale to deliver ejector seat survival training for Australian Defence Force pilots. It is one of those ones that you hope you never have the need to call upon, but if you do, you want to know how to use it. It is a vital role that will support the safety of our service men and women, and it is being delivered right here in Victoria by highly skilled Victorians. Initiatives like this are a clear vote of confidence in our state’s workforce – a workforce built in large part by our public training system.

More broadly, I want to talk about our digital jobs program and Skills First investments, which are helping thousands of Victorians gain the digital and technical skills that underpin defence and aerospace projects. From coding and cybersecurity to design and data systems, these capabilities are becoming increasingly vital, and Victoria is leading the way. It is not just technical skills, mind you; it is also about making sure that all Victorians can access opportunity, including women, young people and people from diverse backgrounds. That is why we are embedding diversity and inclusion targets into our skills programs and promoting STEM pathways that encourage broader participation in defence and manufacturing. I have previously spoken about women coders, and it is good to see so many women taking on coding, which has got so many opportunities into the future. These are the skills that are the cornerstone of economic security, and nowhere is that clearer than in regional Victoria.

Our government continues to invest in infrastructure and in capital works at regional TAFEs, making sure students have access to modern fit-for-purpose learning environments. At TAFE Gippsland these include upgraded trade training facilities and learning centres that reflect the needs of today’s industries. I have gone out there to Gippsland TAFE with some of the students out there doing the ranger training, and it is a world-class centre, there is no doubt about it. That is because we are listening to local communities through regional skills taskforces. We are working with industry and training providers to identify current and future workforce needs and then aligning course offerings to match. That is smart demand-driven training that supports economic growth.

Importantly, our TAFEs go beyond training. They also include, really importantly, something we have spoken about a lot, which is restoring public confidence in a system that was gutted under the previous government. TAFE under the former Liberal–National government was under attack; campuses were closed, courses were cut and jobs were lost. This reckless approach really left a skills vacuum across regional Victoria, one that I have heard directly about in particular from folks out in Gippsland. That was fixed by Labor. We rescued TAFE and we rebuilt it, and we are now seeing the results. Thousands of skilled workers are entering the workforce and powering industries from Latrobe Valley to East Gippsland. Through programs like free TAFE, the digital jobs program and the defence industry workforce development program we are building a pipeline of talent that is meeting the needs of employers, particularly in our priority sectors of defence, clean energy, construction and advanced manufacturing. I had the good fortune of actually seeing some energy and clean energy products that have come out of Gippsland recently, and my gosh, it is exciting, the innovation that is happening in the eastern part of our state.

I will just go back to defence and the Land 400 phase 3 and Land 8116 defence projects being delivered by Hanwha in Victoria. These are creating more than 600 direct jobs and hundreds more indirect jobs through the supply chain. Our TAFEs are essential to ensuring that there are enough skilled workers to fill those roles. To support this we have established the Victorian Land Systems Fund, a $10 million investment to help small and medium businesses upskill, innovate and become part of the defence supply chain. Again, skills are central to that mission.

When you look at defence, aerospace, energy, infrastructure and tech, the common denominator across all of them is people. The workforce is everything, and our government knows that starts with TAFE. That is why we will continue to back Gippsland’s future by backing its people, and that means continuing our strong unwavering support for TAFE and public training. We know that a strong skill system underpins a strong economy, we know that local jobs build local communities and we know that regional Victoria, including Gippsland, has a vital role to play in our state’s future prosperity. This motion reflects those values. It recognises the importance of local jobs, regional capability and the government’s role in facilitating that. It gives this chamber an opportunity to highlight all that has been achieved and all that is still to come for Gippsland, for our defence industry and for the skilled workers that power both. The Allan Labor government will continue to invest, continue to support and continue to deliver. That is our record; that is our commitment.

In the last minute that I have can I thank Mr Bourman for bringing this motion to the chamber today. It is always good to reflect on regional jobs and our unwavering commitment to regional communities, particularly through education and TAFEs. I know under the leadership of the Minister for Skills and TAFE from regional Victoria we will always prioritise regional education and regional opportunities. With that can I say that I am delighted to support this motion today, and I look forward to contributions from other members in our chamber.

Melina BATH (Eastern Victoria) (16:32): The Liberals and the Nationals will be supporting Mr Bourman’s motion 811 on the notice paper. Last night parliamentarians, at the kind offer of the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, went to the Shrine of Remembrance. It was opened in 1934, and we stood there as a solemn reminder of the lives lost in defence of democracy and in subsequent conflicts in defence of Australia. Indeed there is a very important element in this motion which relates to peace through insurance and peace through strength. We must have a defence system now, and that is largely the ambit of the federal government, but certainly continuing to have manufacturing in our state is a very important element of that strength.

Mr Bourman, I am not going to correct your homework, but I just want to provide a little bit of context here for some of your motion. Your motion goes to March 2023, and you paint a picture of the various parts of Gippsland in terms of unemployment. I would like to give you updated labour market figures that have come out from the ABS and others as of December 2024. There are over 14,000 working-age Gippslanders currently receiving JobSeeker payments, an increase of 7.5 per cent. Youth unemployment in Gippsland is 14.2 per cent, and the national average is 9 per cent. Workforce participation in Gippsland is 59.8 per cent, while the state average workforce participation is almost 70 per cent. The unemployment rate is about the same, but this is what we can see if we go to Gippsland’s local government areas; let us look at those. Unemployment in the Latrobe Valley is 7.4 per cent, a three-year high. In Gippsland it is 5.6 per cent, a four-year high; in Wellington, 4.8 per cent; in Bass, a three-year high of 3.9 per cent; and in Baw Baw, 3.2 per cent. South Gippsland is on par with Baw Baw. What we can also see is that – and there is no joy in giving you this, but I want to give a reality check for some of the comments I am about to make – over the past two years, under both federal and state Labor governments, Morwell has 16 per cent unemployment. It has jumped 5.8 per cent in the last year and is higher than the national average unemployment rate. Moe and Newborough have an 8.7 per cent unemployment rate – again, higher. Sale is 6.3 per cent higher. Bairnsdale is 7.2 per cent higher than the national average. Lakes Entrance is 6.6 per cent, and Omeo and Bruthen are 7.3 per cent. I raise that because of course not all is rosy in downtown Gippsland, in particular in Latrobe Valley.

We have heard from the government that TAFE is solving all of our problems. If that were so, I would be delighted. But indeed under this government over the last decade we have seen the closure of manufacturing. We have seen the closure of the native timber industry; the closure of all of the associated manufacturing that goes with that and the machinery; and the pressures on the Maryvale pulp mill, the paper mill that has employed people for over 85 years. That is diminishing in scale. Why? Because the government has closed the native timber industry and is putting pressure on not only that industry but the employees. Only a month ago my colleague Martin Cameron and my other colleague Danny O’Brien asked a question, and we had members of the CFMEU, certainly from the forestry division, in there wanting to push their point to the Premier. We also had the closure of Hazelwood a number of years ago, and it was a botched closure. It was a pushed closure. It could have been done on a better scale, but it was not. This government forced them over the edge. And what happened then? This government grew the LVA, the Latrobe Valley Authority, and it was about transition and moving those people into other employment where they could or retraining them.

I could go on for ages, and I do not have that time. But what we know is that there was $300 million spent on it and still today we have these sorts of figures in downtown Gippsland and in Latrobe Valley. That is not a glowing endorsement for what has happened with the Latrobe Valley Authority – lots of money to keep staff moving and employed, not a lot of job creation. There have been spot fires on job creation. We had some sugar hits, but nothing invested in industry to keep people working and engaging in new industry, and there is plenty there to be had. We also had the SEC hoax. That was going to be an enormous boom, and we have seen about three people employed in that so far. We also had SEA Electric, and I know Mr Bourman will remember that. That was when the Premier came down in 2018 to the valley, saying, ‘We’re going to grow electric vehicle manufacturing,’ spruiking it on the eve of an election – 500 jobs in the region. What happened? Nothing. It dissolved into thin air, like we have seen with all of the industry that we were going to have as a result of the Commonwealth con games that did not materialise and legacy projects that are going to now be in the never-never. These are some of the things that we have been sold a bill of during this government’s tenure, and we see, unfortunately, our unemployment rate is a result of that.

I will say it has always been a challenging and dynamic environment, particularly in the Latrobe Valley, but certainly there is room for improvement. Back in the day between 2010 and 2014 we had the Latrobe Valley Industry and Infrastructure Fund. It was a very modest fund – it was $15 million under the Liberals and Nationals – but it co-invested. It had public and private investments. There was a component there. It was not just a sugar hit for some of the LVA’s pet projects; it was actually a co-investment. It grew jobs, and there are figures to back those up. What we also know is – and I take up Mr Bourman’s commentary around Latrobe aerospace technology and indeed GippsAero and the opportunity in that Latrobe Regional Airport precinct – there is enormous scope to grow that. Indeed Martin Cameron and I recently went out with the Latrobe City Council, and I thank Bruce Connelly for his time out there talking about this very worthwhile investment. This is what the government should be discussing. This is where we should be value-adding into our regions and utilising the best technology, and some of that certainly can be in that defence personnel. Some of the organisations can move from out of Moorabbin and come where there is more space, more security, less cost and more long-term viability out in our region in Gippsland. I thank the Latrobe City Council for doing that work.

Of course there are other opportunities too. There is a thing called the HESC, the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain. The Japanese government is prepared to put $3 billion into a system that uses coal from the Latrobe Valley, carbon captures and stores it in safe deposits out to sea, then manufactures that and sends hydrogen back to Japan for their economy, for their zero-emission economy. What a great opportunity. What has this government been doing? Crickets on this. It is having this internal war with Lily D’Ambrosio and the former Treasurer Tim Pallas, who was supportive of that, and I know; I was down in the valley when he made those comments. These are the opportunities. We do have renewables. Whether they are coming or not, it is still conjecture. We have got the federal government saying no to Hastings where the development of the leverage port could be, but there are places in Gippsland like Port Anthony and our Barry Beach area that could really facilitate those ongoing skills and maintenance jobs. These are very much on the precipice and may or may not occur.

What we also know from this government over the last few years – and the PBO, the Parliamentary Budget Office, has presented these facts to the Parliament – is that across the regions we regional Victorians make up 25 per cent of the population. But what are we seeing in this government spend? Thirteen per cent, 12 per cent of the infrastructure. What are we seeing here? A city-centric government pouring money into black holes in metropolitan Melbourne when it should be investing in regional Victoria. It should be investing, as Mr Bourman has said, in some of that componentry. It should certainly be about strengthening our defence, putting back manufacturing as a priority, not just a by-line in a Latrobe Valley Authority philosophy – there was no plan in its last paper – and actually doing the work, enabling Regional Development Victoria and Regional Development Australia to facilitate good investment and co-investment with industries and give them the security and the knowledge that they are going to be open for business in Victoria, which we have not had under the Andrews–Allan government for the last 10 years.

Jacinta ERMACORA (Western Victoria) (16:43): I am delighted to speak on this topic, and I am really glad that my colleague Mr Bourman has raised this issue. I also want to congratulate him for his advocacy for his region. There are strong reasons for Victorians to be confident in our economic future. This motion specifically calls out the defence industry and its role as an employer in regional Victoria, and this is exactly why we recognised defence as a priority sector in our economic statement. The Economic Growth Statement states that:

Regional Victoria is at the forefront of manufacturing and defence industry capabilities …

So we have already identified this as a priority sector, particularly for regions.

I did find it fascinating that technological advancements and innovation in defence capabilities are also furthering our defences against things like climate change and furthering other good social and economic advances in our society. I had the great pleasure of meeting Mia, a University of Melbourne physics PhD candidate, at the Avalon air show last week. She was at the Melbourne Uni stand there. We discussed her interest in physics and her studies of how rockets work, and of course that is the connection with defence in the work that she was doing with the design of rockets. I was fascinated to hear her raise the ethical dilemma of being involved in the defence space but also that so many good things come out of defence research and study. So there literally is an ethical dilemma. I am not going to solve it here, and I am not going to choose which way to go in this speech either. But, for instance, when they test their rockets, their payloads sometimes have a really interesting pieces of research in them. For instance, the one that they most recently put up had the capability of measuring sea level around the globe. That was an interesting piece of information, obviously improving climate change data. This dual role is also evident in growing businesses with strong links to the defence sector in my own regional community. I also had the pleasure of meeting Catherine Dorward of Envirofluid, and that business is based in Warrnambool. They were also at the Avalon air show.

It is worth noting here that the air show is the most comprehensive aviation, aerospace and defence exposition in the Southern Hemisphere and it provides a platform for Victoria’s world-class supply chain businesses to showcase their expertise in aviation, aerospace and defence to a national and international audience.

Back to Envirofluid: at the Envirofluid stall I heard from Catherine about their growing business in my very own backyard. Their story is a fascinating one and highlights as well the importance of defence work for jobs in regional Victoria. Envirofluid’s journey began not only as a business venture but also as a deeply personal mission. Ben, the director of Envirofluid, grew up hearing the extraordinary story of his father Jim Ohlmeyer. Jim served as a private in the 8th division signals during World War II and endured over three years and eight months as a prisoner of war in Singapore. His service earned him recognition amongst his peers, and he was mentioned in dispatches for services rendered under the harshest of conditions. Despite surviving, Jim’s postwar life brought new trials. His war experiences exposed him to toxic substances which over time took a toll on his health. This serves as a grim reminder of the hidden dangers that so many defence personnel face in their daily lives.

For Ben, watching the impact that toxic substances had on his father’s health inspired him to create a healthier and safer future. He realised that the use of harmful chemicals was not just a workplace issue; it was a human issue, affecting countless lives and families. So Ben founded Envirofluid with a singular vision: to provide safer environmentally friendly alternatives to hazardous chemicals for cleaning. His mission was to revolutionise the way businesses approach cleaning, maintenance and industrial processes to ensure that health and safety and sustainability are never compromised.

Envirofluid’s innovative product lines were designed to reduce environmental impact and protect workers’ wellbeing. The products are manufactured to clean chemicals and equipment for heavy-duty workshops. They have a water-based range of descalers and dust suppression products which can go down standard wash bays to standard local waste facilities. This all sounds very technical, but basically it is a bioproduct that is much healthier than the chemicals for cleaning engines have been historically.

These products reduce the environmental impact and protect workers’ wellbeing, and these solutions have since become trusted across industries like defence, marine, mining, manufacturing and hospitality. As a result Envirofluid has grown into a company with a global impact. Defence makes up 35 per cent of their business, and mining and trucking make up the remainder. This is not just defence in Australia; they also ship to Singapore, Guam, New Zealand, America and Canada. They are in talks with a distributor in the UK to complete their own private AUKUS program. It is remarkable how the business grew from Warrnambool during COVID. By boosting the supply of sanitiser, Envirofluid were able to scale up their business, producing 60 tonnes per day. That was an amazing innovation. They also became a sovereign option for the replacement of cleaning chemicals. They have what is called a distributor number with NATO, and also Boeing have been involved in purchasing their product as well. Again, that is their global story. Their story continues with supplies to the US navy and to the mining industry. They have just been granted an NSN – that is a NATO stock number – which allows any NATO member to purchase items from them. The Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group, which is a recent approval that they received for NSNs, means that their range of products can be purchased by all allied defence countries. This is huge and a real positive for our region and our city. Today Envirofluid employs 10 people in Warrnambool and five people remotely. However, with their growing impact and the investments made by the defence industry, they are certainly projected to expand in scale. As illustrated by just this one story of Envirofluid, employment opportunities and technical expertise are growing in our state, and the Allan Labor government is very committed to supporting this industry.

If we look at the story of Dan and Ben and the chemical impacts on his life, like Mia from Melbourne Uni who is studying physics and learning about rockets, he is also confronting that dilemma of concerns around defence and the build-up of weaponry versus the often scientific benefits that happen as a result of that. I do not see any joy in an arms race at all, but I certainly see positivity coming from these kinds of investments and innovation that happen around the globe. I am thrilled to have discovered that there is a defence industry business located in Warrnambool in my own community.

Bev McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (16:53): Unlike some in the other corner of this chamber – I do not know where they are today. Where are they, those people over in that corner who are usually dead against anything to do – I cannot see them – with defence? They are just not around. They have left this space. I do not know why they are not here to debate this fantastic motion brought by Mr Bourman. It is a very essential motion. We cannot stress enough the importance of developing our own defence industry in Australia, particularly in this state. I am happy to share the love. A bit can go to Gippsland, but of course we definitely need it in Western Victoria Region, and we have got it. Let me tell you, I am about to outline exactly what we do have in Western Victoria Region. I am just a little perturbed that those over there in that corner just have not turned up at the moment. Really, it is a shame.

Tom McIntosh interjected.

Bev McARTHUR: Thank you, Mr McIntosh; it is a shame. Anyway, we will press on without them. Defence is vital to Victoria. It gives us 29,000 jobs – direct defence industry jobs. It makes a $10.9 billion direct economic contribution. There are $4.9 billion of gross value added benefits across the supply chain, and there is $210 million worth of defence research and development undertaken in Victoria, with annual exports – and they are expert – totalling $1.7 billion. As I said, I was happy to share the love with Mr Bourman so that we do have some going to Gippsland, but what I am concerned about is paragraph (3) of Mr Bourman motion, which tells us how Victoria is lagging behind New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia. They have all had growth increases, but Victoria is now rating fifth in manufacturing, second in construction and third in professional scientific and technical services of defence industry, with currently 24,000 defence industry jobs. That is not good enough. We cannot possibly be a second-class cousin to New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia; we have got to lift our game.

We have heard of some of the companies across Victoria as a whole. But there is, as I said, a very significant cluster in western Victoria, specifically around Geelong, and this is largely as a result of the success of Hanwha Defence Australia in its bid to win the multibillion-dollar Commonwealth government’s Land 400 phase 3 program. Hanwha will build 129 Redback infantry fighting vehicles at their $170 million Avalon Airport industrial precinct facility. This is in addition to their earlier success in winning a defence department contract for a self-propelled howitzer program. I know those in the Greens corner would hate all this – wouldn’t they, Minister Shing? They would hate it. But we think it is all fantastic for Victoria, it is fantastic for the defence of Australia and it is vitally important to keeping us all safe and keeping this democracy thriving – although sometimes you would wonder around here. That company has also committed to building the vehicles using a largely Australian supply chain – isn’t that fantastic – with many suppliers locating close to the Avalon manufacturing hub. That is what we are getting to here: Avalon’s manufacturing hub is going to be the defence leader in this country. The project is expected to support 500 to 600 direct jobs and over 1000 direct jobs in Australian defence industry suppliers.

Like my friend from western Victoria, I was pleased to attend the Avalon air show last weekend, but it was not just about aerial displays. I should quickly send my thoughts to the pilot who was injured in the accident on Friday and his family and also congratulate and compliment the emergency services and the event organisers for their reaction to that dreadful accident. We wish that pilot a speedy recovery. But this was also a significant networking event for defence industries at Avalon, as Ms Ermacora said. The attendees and exhibitors came from across Australia and internationally, but there was also a lot to show off locally. A real cluster now exists in the Geelong area. Companies with direct interest or relevant supply chain capabilities include Air Radiators, the Automotive Research Centre, BullEx Australia, Chemring, Cross Laminated Offsite Solutions, FLAIM Systems, IXL Group, Marand, McHugh and Eastwood, Quickstep, WRAP Engineering, RPC Technologies, Sykes, Winchester, Universal Motion Simulation, XTM Performance and of course Hanwha.

I also want to give a particular shout-out to CubePilot and their CEO Philip Rowse, who opened, just in time for the Avalon show, their new Geelong factory on the Ford site just last week. CubePilot make an advanced open source autopilot for drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles, which has obvious and important military applications given the increasing importance of drones in warfare. They are a fabulous local business with international expertise and worldwide reach, and they export. This is not just about the existing companies in Geelong and Western Victoria Region –

Tom McIntosh: On a point of order, President, I am thoroughly enjoying hearing Mrs McArthur talk about all the economic activity and investment being made in Victoria thanks to the good work of the government; however, the motion is on Gippsland employment, so perhaps Mrs McArthur could come back to some of the government’s intentions and big investments within Gippsland. If there are ideas you see within Gippsland, like perhaps energy generation, you could shed some light there, Mrs McArthur.

The PRESIDENT: I have just joined this party, Mr McIntosh, so I will take it that Mrs McArthur will do her best to stick to the motion.

Bev McARTHUR: Just to take up Mr McIntosh’s point of order, I know he is jealous that we are doing better in Western Victoria Region than he is Gippsland, but he can catch up. Look, I said I was happy to share the love. You have just got to learn to get better, Mr McIntosh – seriously. We have just got this huge potential site at Avalon Airport with direct access to the Princes Highway. It is an international airport with heavy rail freight connection – you just need all this – and the rest of a national freight network. Look, I do not know how come you cannot get it, Mr McIntosh. You are in the government.

I know Mr Bourman has done a great job, and Ms Bath, lobbying for important infrastructure development in Gippsland, and I am sure you will be able to catch up down the track, but we will lead the way. Also I want to tell you, Mr McIntosh, that one of the most important things about the defence industry is AUKUS. It really is just leading the way. It is so fantastic that we are going to have nuclear-powered submarines. Just imagine the ancillary business and development and research that is going to come our way because of this nuclear-powered industry that will eventuate from AUKUS. It is a great thing, AUKUS, Mr McIntosh. I am sure you would be right on board with nuclear-powered submarines. The defence minister is in my electorate, Mr Marles in Geelong. He is a great advocate of AUKUS. You must be on board with nuclear-powered submarines. We need them, and it is going to bring fantastic opportunities. You might even get a little trickle-down effect in Gippsland. There might be a little trickle-down effect, but these nuclear-powered submarines are going to bring great industry to this country, great industry in the defence area, and we will all be better off. And who knows, down the track you might be able to turn the light on with a bit of nuclear power.

Tom McINTOSH (Eastern Victoria) (17:02): That was a delight, waiting for 9 minutes and 48 seconds for the nuclear generator comment to come, but thank you Mrs McArthur for putting it on the record. I would like to thank Mr Bourman for bringing this motion to the chamber. I support him in this motion. I think there are a number of points that are very, very valid and worth our discussion and debate as numerous members have made contributions so far. An obvious starting point is the importance of the defence industry in this state and in our nation with all that is happening in the world but also, as many of the members in their contributions have highlighted, with the economic benefits, the research and development and the technical advancements that occur through it. I will come back to that a little bit throughout my contribution.

Given this is about Gippsland, some of the industry and sector changes that have occurred in recent decades have been noted and those that continue to occur. In energy, for the best part of a century we have had coal generation provide our state with an abundance of electricity and a massive workforce in the valley and throughout eastern Victoria over many decades. As we now see those generators coming to the end of their lives and closing, we have had massive transition work occurring in the valley and around. Although this government has been able to work with Yallourn to see it go through to 2028 – and off the top of my head I think there is $450 million of investment in there for generators to ensure that they can keep operating and keep providing power to Victoria – the reality is that no commercial entity is looking to invest in coal generation going forward. And indeed I might come back to nuclear later, but there is no commercial entity looking to invest in nuclear generation either, Mrs McArthur.

We have got big employers in the defence industry with the RAAF base. I would like to note also Cerberus, which is another big employer and trainer there. It has got some quite incredible facilities. The indoor pool there is pretty incredible, with wave simulations, night-time simulation and the helicopter that will crash into the water, and our defence personnel have to train in real-life conditions, getting out of that chopper back onto ships. It is quite an incredible facility. That is just one item that really stands out in my memory. And likewise, as Mr Bourman went through, the number of people that have been trained over the decades and the number of people that are employed and training at the RAAF base out at Sale are really important as well.

I think the other thing to note is that a lot of our industries and sectors are not as they were in the last century, where we had massive employment happening in one location as we saw with the automotive industry, which the Liberal-National coalition put a death knell to when the Aussie dollar was at $1.10 or something like that – it is now back down to 67 cents. But anyway, we move on and we look forward; we look through the windscreen and we look at what is coming at us. There were a lot of businesses that fed into that sector, which I think were an important part of diversified manufacturing. And a number of businesses have been outlined, which I can go through if I get time – the amount of businesses in Victoria in the defence sector, the amount of jobs in that and the skills within that but also the flow-on through associated businesses.

I want to just touch on the importance that has been flagged by some of my colleagues in here of the pathways from our secondary education into TAFEs or universities to give people the skills to meet these employers with, as Mr Bourman referenced, some absolutely cutting-edge technology for the defence sector and industry. To be able to meet the needs of employers with a workforce, to have them ready to go with the skills they need now, is absolutely critical. It is something that, as I have mentioned many times in this place, I am really proud of – the fact that this government has rebuilt the TAFE system and made massive investments in TAFE across Gippsland, whether that is the Port of Sale, Morwell, Warragal, Leongatha or around the whole region, and just how important that is.

I want to come to some points around the defence industry more broadly. We understand that it represents a major opportunity for Victorian industry. The state has, as Mrs McArthur highlighted in a lot of her contribution, nation-leading capabilities in advanced manufacturing workforce talent and defence-related research and development. I am glad Mrs McArthur could make that contribution, because so often we hear the opposition talking down Victoria, talking down the state or the places that we live in, whereas we on this side are looking for opportunity, are looking to invest, are looking to attract business. I will not get time perhaps now, but in my notes I have the numbers of businesses and the amount of investment going on in this state.

Despite all the best efforts of the noalition to talk our great state down, to talk down Victoria, this incredible state that it is, we go from strength to strength. The Victorian defence sector delivers $10.9 billion in direct annual expenditure and $210 million in research and development. The sector employs 29,000 workers and there are 6300 businesses in Victoria that are part of the defence supply chain, and whilst those opposite might find it amusing to have such a diversified workforce, with employment in a number of businesses, I think it adds to the strength of our great state. There are calls, yes, about nuclear over on the other side, but we will leave that where it is. Just on that point of a nuclear reactor, we are talking about delivering workforce jobs, real jobs. We know that industries like offshore wind bring tens of billions of dollars of investment and thousands and thousands of generational jobs versus a pie-in-the-sky hoax, a cruel hoax that the Liberal–National coalition are playing on workers and businesses that depend on the jobs and the energy. I hope the irony of the reference to ‘a cruel hoax’ was not lost on anyone in this place.

Some of our leading strengths in Victoria include aerospace platform design, engineering and manufacturing; land vehicle design, engineering and manufacturing; maritime and submarine design, engineering, R and D; munitions infrastructure componentry and assembly; skilled workforce and nation-leading universities and industry-connected TAFEs; cutting-edge industry collaborations in R and D; strong collaboration and advanced manufacturing of precision components; and development of software-intensive systems. As I have said, this is absolute cutting-edge advanced manufacturing which requires a skilled workforce. I am proud that this government is investing right through from early education and child care, where we are socialising kids in groups, getting them the best education early, to primary and secondary education, where they are getting a world-class education. Then they are able to go into a rebuilt infrastructure and service invested TAFE, where they can get the right skills alongside our university system to be ready to work in a defence force that will help to keep us all safe but also ensure that our state is economically prosperous.

Jeff BOURMAN (Eastern Victoria) (17:13): I want to thank those that have contributed: Ms Bath, Ms Watt, Ms Ermacora, Mrs McArthur – always entertaining – and Mr McIntosh. It is always interesting to listen to these things. Everyone has their own view on what is going on, but for most it is a good time to try and get the defence industries up and going. In my youth things like the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation, the CAC, and Maribyrnong arms factory were a big thing. Now as a country we have very little. As they say, the time is nigh. No matter which government or at what level, it is time we started taking this stuff seriously, because it will come and get us sooner or later.

I am actually going to finish off a point that Mrs McArthur brought up. There is a certain party in this chamber that is quite happy to drag geopolitical stuff into here all the time and try and get us involved. They keep on telling us that they are ready to govern, that they are a serious party. This is a very serious issue and a very serious industry, with jobs, which they pretend to care about, and they could not even be bothered turning up. The Greens can do what the Greens do. I commend my motion to the house.

Motion agreed to.