Office relocates to FNQ

Defence Pacific patrol boat program to set up camp in Cairns as part of $2.1bn plan

CAIRNS has triumphed over Canberra as the new location for the Department of Defence’s Pacific Patrol Boat Systems Program Office, which aims to combat illegal fishing, transnational crime and related security challenges.

On Friday, the department announced that under the Pacific Maritime Security Program, Australia had committed $2.1bn to deliver and support 21 Guardian-class patrol boats to Pacific Island nations Papua New Guinea, Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Palau, Samoa, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Timor-Leste.

Eight positions in the PPB SPO have relocated to Cairns in the past five months.

Lieutenant General John Grey (ret), a long-time Cairns resident, described the decision to relocate as “excellent”.

“We have been pushing to get Defence and Foreign Affairs to base the PMSP here,” he said.

“This is an excellent outcome and it should lead to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to consider an office in Cairns to interact with South Pacific officials.

“The interesting thing about this program is that, with the exception of fisheries, tourism is the most important industry to the South Pacific,” he said.

“So we try to assist economically to some extent via these patrol boats by maintaining a well-controlled environment to make it more attractive for tourism.”

Department of Defence assistant secretary specialist ships John Toohey said the move to Cairns would greatly benefit the program

“The relocation of PPB SPO to Cairns means vessel maintenance, crew training and program management all occur in the same location, allowing for greater collaboration and efficiency,” he said.

“Being located in Cairns, closer to other specialist ship program offices and Defence’s Regional Maintenance Centre North East, will enable us to further develop and improve our sustainment model to support local industry capability and align with Plan Galileo.”

As part of the move, the

PPB SPO will be integrated with other support teams in northeast Australia in accordance with Plan Galileo, Defence’s national approach to sustaining the Royal Australian Navy’s existing and future capabilities.

Head Maritime Systems Rear Admiral Wendy Malcolm said Plan Galileo was part of a $170bn investment in naval shipbuilding announced in the 2020 Force Structure Plan.