I was pleased to see that the Minister for Defence Industry, Christopher Pyne, is mindful of Tasmania’s defence manufacturing and sustainment capability when I asked him about it in Question Time today.
Although the vast bulk of the defence spend inevitably goes to states like South Australia, the Minister showed a detailed understanding of Hobart’s Prince of Wales Bay defence manufacturing precinct in particular and was able to assure the Parliament that Hobart businesses will get a chance to be briefed by Defence on 7 December.
Although he didn’t make a commitment publicly in Question Time that he would visit Hobart, I did speak with the Minister personally shortly afterwards and he gave me an assurance that he would visit Prince of Wales Bay businesses at an early opportunity.
Andrew Wilkie, Independent MP for Denison
