BATTLE OVER DEFENCE DOLLARS
QUEENSLAND has a quarter of the nation’s defence force personnel but is getting less than 10 per cent of the $31bn being splashed out on new facilities over the next decade.
The figures are revealed in an Australian Strategic Policy Institute report on defence spending out today.
It means Queensland MPS will have to lobby hard to secure more of the $270bn in military money due to be spent in the coming 10 years.
The ASPI report showed that of the $31bn being spent on new facilities, just $3bn was bound for Queensland.
QUEENSLAND has a quarter of the nation’s defence force personnel but is getting less than 10 per cent of the $31bn being splashed out on new facilities over the next decade.
The figures were revealed in the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s new report on defence spending, which is out today.
It means Queensland MPS will have to lobby hard to secure more of the $270bn in military money due to be spent in the coming 10 years.
The ASPI report showed that of the $31bn to be spent on new facilities, like barracks and air force bases, just $3bn was bound for Queensland, despite 28,000 personnel being based in the state.
NSW has just 2000 more personnel but three times the investment in facilities.
“Queensland is home to one quarter of defence’s people, but it’s only getting one tenth of future facilities investment,” report author Dr Marcus Hellyer said.
The $3bn includes barracks upgrades for Gallipoli at Enoggera, Swartz at Oakey, Borneo at Cabarlah and Lavarack at Townsville; as well as RAAF bases at Amberley, Townsville and Scherger; and work on the HMAS Cairns and the Shoalwater Bay training area.
There has been a growing push from Queensland federal government MPS and the state government to secure a larger share of the multi-billion-dollar defence industries sector.
The ASPI report said COVID-19 had revealed the issues of supply chain vulnerability and the importance of local industry getting more work.
Australia’s defence industries would need to ramp up production from $2.6bn to $10bn a year to increase local contractors’ involvement in the supply chain from 30 per cent to 50 per cent.
“If it doesn’t get there, Australia will be increasingly reliant on imported defence equipment, with resultant supply chain risks,” Dr Hellyer said.