PRIME MINISTER:
Well, what an exciting day for the Royal Australian Air Force, for Australian industry, for technology, and for Australian jobs.
Andrew Jackson and David Bell have brought the first Joint Strike Fighters here to Australia. Here at the Avalon Airshow, the most advanced fighter in the world being built with Australian technology.
Every Joint Strike Fighters around the world, the air forces of the world will include the ingenuity, the enterprise, the engineering of great Australian companies.
We have been here today with the Defence Minister, Marise Payne, the Defence Industry Minister, Christopher Pyne, and the Member for Corangamite, Sarah Henderson - we’re in her electorate here. We visited the teams, the people that are making this plane, putting this extraordinary project together.
Lockheed Martin, their Chief Executive, Marillyn Hewson, is here. What a great company.
Together with the Air Force Chief, Leo Davies, we have also visited the Australian companies. Already 2,500 Australians are working on this project. By 2023 it will be 5,000. By then it will be adding $1 billion a year to Australian GDP.
The range of the companies is so impressive, it shows you what a resilient and innovative nation we are. You have companies like Marand and Ferra that began in the automotive component industry, that have now moved into the very cutting edge of defence technology.
Then you have a company like Quickstep, a carbon-fibre technology company playing such an important role in the production of this aeroplane, started in 2009.
You have another engineering company, Varley, started in the 1880s.
So whether they are companies of more than a century old or just started a few years ago, you are seeing the best and brightest of Australian technology going into the production of this aeroplane. It is an example of how our Defence Industry Plan is not simply securing our Air Force and our Army and our Navy with the capabilities they need to keep us safe in the 21st century, but it is driving the advanced manufacturing, the jobs, the advanced technological industries that Australians need to ensure that our children and grandchildren have the great opportunities in the years ahead.
We will have 72 of these aeroplanes by 2020. They are the most advanced fighter in the world and they have been the work of Australians who have put so much technology, so much engineering excellence into it.
In addition to that, of course, we will be, as Christopher will describe, we will be the sustainment base for the Asia Pacific here in Australia.
This is about our capabilities, which Marise will talk about in a moment. It is ensuring our Air Force has the platform to keep us safe in the 21st century but it is also about securing thousands of jobs, high quality, advanced manufacturing, engineering jobs in the years ahead.
Marise?
MINISTER FOR DEFENCE:
Prime Minister, parliamentary colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, Chief of Air Force, Leo Davies, and Marillyn Hewson from Lockheed Martin.
There is nothing like landing two JSF in Australia to make a Defence Minister's day.
It is a very, very important step in the development of Australian Air Force capability and the engagement of Australian industry in that process.
This is an acquisition which has been 15 years in the making. It started in 2002 and it will make a truly game-changing difference to Air Force capability.
I want to acknowledge the men and the women of the Australian Defence Force, but particularly the RAAF who have been part of this since day one.
The men and women like Wing Commander Andrew Jackson and Squadron Leader David Bell who had, in my view, the extraordinary honour of flying the F-35s from the United States to Australia for the Avalon Air Show. To have these on display here and to welcome home Andrew and David, who are currently based in the United States, is a great honour.
A lot has been said and written by many people about these aircraft. This is a real opportunity for Australians to see them up close and to really get a good chance to have a look at this capability. They will provide the Air Force with the ability to execute air combat missions which were previously beyond our scope. In fact, not too long ago, previously beyond our imagination.
The F-35 has stealth built into it, right from the start. Its fuel tanks, its weapons, its sensors are on the inside of the aircraft. It can it go further. It is harder to see than a fourth generation aircraft, which typically externally carries its tanks and its weapons and its sensors.
In addition to stealth, it is those advanced sensors and data fusion which makes this capability a true fifth generation aircraft.
They have an extraordinary ability to share information with other F35s, with other aircraft, with the rest of the Defence Force including the Army and the Navy and those of our allies and coalition partners.
Put simply, its ability to share information will increase the survivability and the capability of our assets in the air, on the ground and in the water.
This week we also had the chance to welcome the first Growler into service with Air Force. That provides a dedicated electronic attack option to our strategic capabilities.
Together they are lethal.
Last year, we welcomed the P-8 - you can see it here as well - helping to protect our borders in its service.
The Royal Australian Air Force is truly becoming a fifth generation air force that will form part of a broader and connected Defence Force, that is better able to keep our nation secure.
For Australia, importantly there has been no change to budget or schedule since the project was approved. We are on track to deliver this capability and ready to receive our first two F-35 aircraft permanently in Australia at the end of 2018.
We will be able to declare Initial Operating Capability just two years later at the end of 2020.
It is a very significant undertaking by Defence, by the United States, by Lockheed Martin to bring these aircraft all the way from Luke Air Force Base in Nevada to Avalon, Australia.
I want to thank and congratulate everyone that is involved.
Ladies and gentlemen, enjoy the F-35A.
MINISTER FOR DEFENCE INDUSTRY:
Thank you very much Marise.
Well, the Joint Strike Fighter project is a perfect example of Malcolm Turnbull's vision for Defence and Defence Industry at work. Not only, as Marise has outlined, is this the most lethal capability in air platform in the world today, and will be for decades into the future, but rather than simply being a foreign military sale for Australia, we have been involved in this project from the beginning and the project is doing its work in our economy as well.
I would also like to acknowledge Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan from the Joint Project Office in Washington, who is here today, because we worked closely with him and his team in the Joint Project Office in Washington to maximise the Australian industry involvement in the Joint Strike Fighter program.
To put it in some perspective in terms of the scale of what we are talking about, already 32 Australian businesses have reaped the value of $800 million worth of value into their businesses because they are part of the Joint Strike Fighter Project.
The PriceWaterhouseCoopers report that was released today shows the number of employees, the number of workers, is rising to 5,000 that will be affected by the Joint Strike Fighter Project just in Australia between now and 2023. The value to our economy at the moment is $470 million, adding to our GDP. By 2023 will be $1 billion dollars a year adding to the Gross Domestic Product.
So the success of the project should be measured in its capability for the RAAF, but it’s also creating a high-tech advanced manufacturing, high-value jobs future for manufacturing here in Australia.
Our businesses that are involved in the Joint Strike Fighter Project are the best businesses in the world to provide the products and services that they are putting into these platforms. As a consequence, we can be very proud as Australians of the effect that we are having in our economy, in jobs and in capability to defend our nation.
So with Marise and with Malcolm, obviously I welcome the arrival of the two Joint Strike Fighters.
It is a red-letter day for the vision that we have. But it’s going to be extended, not just in air but right through naval shipbuilding, cyber-security, electronic warfare systems, exports overseas.
This is just the beginning of a new renaissance in the Australian defence industry.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well said. Very good.
JOURNALIST:
Mr Turnbull, John Howard was Prime Minister when Australia became involved in this program. There have been five prime ministerships since that time and the arrival of the planes has taken longer than was expected at that time. Can you just give us a timeline on your thinking of how this program has actually unfolded and are you concerned at all at this stage that the program is too big to fail at this stage anyway?
PRIME MINISTER:
We’ve had some very good meetings today discussing the program, of course with Leo Davies and Lieutenant General Bogdan from the United States Air Force who heads the program up in the United States.
It’s rolling out. It’s going well now and we expect to have all of our planes delivered by 2020.
So it’s on track and we’re very pleased both with the progress of the program today, both with the work, the hard work that is going on to bring down the unit cost and also, of course, by the fantastic contribution that Australian industry and Australian engineering is making to this extraordinary 21st century weapons platform.
JOURNALIST:
Tony Abbott said you weren’t doing enough to sell the cuts to penalty rates, is he right?
PRIME MINISTER:
The focus of our visit here today is on the extraordinary achievement of the men and women of our Australian Defence Force, in supporting this project, in bringing this project to where it has come today. And the remarkable contribution of Australian industry, working with our American partners, working with our partners in the United States Air Force. This is a red-letter day as Marise Payne said.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, what would you say to Australians who are seeing millions and millions pumped into the project that they consider may be a dud? What would you say to them?
PRIME MINISTER:
This is the most advanced fighter in the world. Technology like this is keeping now and will in the future, keep Australians safe. I want to say, that is the first obligation of every government, the first responsibility of every government.
We need to ensure that our Defence Forces have the best capabilities, they have the greatest lethality, the greatest survivability so that when we send our young men and women out to war, they have the tools that do the job, to destroy their enemies, to destroy the terrorists that seek to do us harm, and then to come safely home. That’s our commitment.
The technology you have seen here today enables us to deliver it.
JOURNALIST:
Sarah Henderson owned shares in Aristocrat Leisure despite being a vocal opponent to pokie machines. Would you urge her to divest?
PRIME MINISTER:
I understand the member has - this has been a disclosure that has been made in accordance with the standing orders.
JOURNALIST:
Do you think it is okay for her to own the shares given she is such a vocal opponent?
PRIME MINISTER:
You will have to address that to the member, I am afraid. Can we focus on the defence industry? We’ll take some questions at the end. But are there any more questions on defence?
JOURNALIST:
Who do you think the jets will be used against? Which is the greatest threat?
PRIME MINISTER:
Sorry?
JOURNALIST:
Which country is the greatest threat to Australia? Who do you think we may use them against?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, we, our job is to protect Australia from all threats.
Right now, as you know, our Air Force is operating in the Middle East, killing terrorists.
Let me tell you a little bit about that task.
When I became Prime Minister, I was advised by the Chief of the Defence Force that there was a, that Australian law, as it stood, had the consequence that our defence forces in that particularly Syria-Iraq theatre could only target terrorists when they were actively engaged in combat. We weren't able to target them when they were in support roles, in logistics, in planning, in financing, for example. I changed the law. I changed the law. My government changed the law so that our Australian Defence Force, our Air Force, is able to kill terrorists in the Middle East whether they have a gun in their hand, a bomb in their hand or whether they are in the back office planning an attack or raising money or engaged in logistics.
This is a struggle where we are determined to destroy the enemies, the terrorist enemies we face in the Middle East. Our men and women are doing that. They are doing that together with our allies, with the United States and others, we are doing that successfully. We are destroying Daesh in the field and their so-called caliphate is coming to an end.
JOURNALIST:
President Trump has announced a big increase in the US military budget and is asking allies to do more to pay their way. Is Australia planning any biggest increases in the defence budget? And what about these extra 28 F-35s that you have as an option [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, can I say, I have discussed our defence plans with President Trump. He was very, very impressed to hear about the investment we have made.
Our defence investment is massive. This is the biggest investment in Australia, ever, in peace time.
You know, the investment in our air force capabilities, and we are surrounded by them today and we have spoken about them. Our ship-building plan is enormous. This is a massive investment. We are spending 2 per cent of GDP as you know. The Americans have complained that many of their allies have not been close to that. So nobody anywhere in the world, least of all in Washington, would ever suggest Australia is not pulling its weight consistently. Consistently we box above our weight in every theatre.
MINISTER FOR DEFENCE:
I met with Secretary Mattis in Brussels two weeks ago and had the opportunity to talk about some of the projects in which Australia and the United States is engaged and to flag the arrival of the F-35s here today.
The Prime Minister is absolutely right in terms of our engagement and the development of the Defence White Paper and the integrated investment program which will lead us to spending 2 per cent of GDP on defence spending by 2021.
We are in the sort of place that we know Australia needs to be to provide the capability that the Australian Defence Force needs to be the most capable, agile and potent defence force it can be to do the work it needs to do in our region and more broadly particularly the Middle East at the moment, as the Prime Minister referred to. That capability which you see lined up here in air terms but we know is coming down the line in both naval and land terms, will ensure the ADF is the best prepared it can possibly be and most importantly ensure that the Australian people have every confidence in its capability.
MINISTER FOR DEFENCE INDUSTRY:
I will just briefly add to that. When President Trump was elected, of course, one of his policies was to expand the defence budget. I said at the time, and it remains the case and in his speech to the Congress this week he has confirmed an increase in defence spending. And it really goes to the technical capability of the Australian industry here because we have real opportunities to compete successfully because of our quality in the United States market.
Now, many Australian businesses are already doing so. Whether it is the CEA Phased Array Radar, BAE and DSTG’s Nulka Anti-Ship Missile decoy, which are very high value products. Austal Ships from Western Australia are building ships in the United States.
But in terms of the Joint Strike Fighter Project, Australia is winning the competition to be the Asia Pacific hub for the sustainment and maintenance of all Joint Strike Fighters operating in this area. So engines, frames and so far 64 out of 65 of the components that have been determined by the Joint Project Office in Washington have been won by Australian companies operating here.
We are not winning these because it is an off-sets program like many other countries, we are winning the countries because we are the best in the world at producing them, at delivering them. And that is why the uplift in spending of the US in terms of defence spending will be a boon to Australian industry.
JOURNALIST:
Just on a related national security question, are you concerned about Australia being deluged by returning foreign fighters?
PRIME MINISTER:
We have that issue of foreign fighters very well in hand.
There have been some rather exaggerated reports in the media today.
We have many, many tools to deal with terrorism. We update and review our laws all the time. I mentioned one a moment ago, another change to the law on a domestic stage that has been undertaken under my prime ministership was to give us the tools to keep convicted terrorists in jail after the end of their sentences if a court deems them still to be a threat to the community by reason of their terrorism.
As I have made this point when I was speaking about this issue and the arrest of the individual in Young earlier in the week, we constantly review our laws and where we see we can give more tools to the defence, our security services, our police services, we do.
But we are very alert to the foreign fighters, Australians who are fighting for Daesh and our defence forces seek to kill them and any other fighters of Daesh whenever they can.
Our goal as far as those who serve with Daesh in the Middle East is to kill them. Let me be quite frank - that is our goal. And our ADF now has the legal ability to do so, whether they have a gun in their hand, a bomb in their hand or whether they are planning or plotting or raising money.
This is a war against Daesh and we are determined to destroy them and we are destroying them.
JOURNALIST:
What can the government do to stop these fighters from returning to Australia?
PRIME MINISTER:
One of the reasons why the number of fighters in the Middle East is not increasing is because they keep on getting killed. Australia plays a role in that. That is the object. That is the object of our role there, to destroy Daesh and the terrorists that are part of it. We have the ability - citizenship is revoked if people are fighting with Daesh and, of course, if they are a dual citizen, obviously, if they do seek or they do return to Australia they will spend a very long time if not the rest of their lives behind bars.
JOURNALIST:
Just back on the JSF, the Americans will fly it in tandem with the F-22 Raptor. The Brits will fly in tandem with the Typhoon. Both of those are optimized for air-to-air combat. Would you prefer in an ideal situation that Australia had a more mixed fleet in which we could fly the JSF with another plane that was optimised for air-to-air combat? Would that be a better situation?
PRIME MINISTER:
Can I say the force that we have and the capacity of this plane is remarkable? We have had some briefings today about recent exercises involving the F-35 and other aircraft including some of those you have mentioned. This is a very, very potent platform. We are satisfied that this will serve the object of keeping Australians safe and giving our air force the capabilities it needs together with the other aircraft that we have acquired, including of course, the Growler that Marise referred to earlier.
Do you want to add to that Marise? No? Thank you – oh good! That’s good! I have got an A-plus from the Defence Minister, at least for that answer.
[Laughter]
One more and we will wrap up.
JOURNALIST:
One on penalty rates Prime Minister? You said you’d answer other matters at the end of the conference? Tony Abbott's criticisms that you are not doing enough – is that fair enough?
PRIME MINISTER:
We made it very clear on that issue, it is the decision of the Fair Work Commission, which has carefully weighed up the balance between creating more employment.
I mean, the reality is this Commission considered hundreds of witnesses and it is all set out in their report and they were satisfied that the changes they have set out will increase employment, will increase jobs, will create thousands of new opportunities for people to work, create thousands of new opportunities for small businesses to open and that is always the objective. More work, more opportunity, more jobs.
Of course, there is the means to transition changes so that take-home pay is not affected. Again, that is set out in some detail in the report.
That is the object. It is all about jobs. It is all about economic growth.
I just say that everything we are doing is putting the foot down on the accelerator to drive more economic growth and more jobs in Australia. Whether it is in small business, whether it is in big business, whether it is in some of the small family-owned companies that we saw today or giant industrial concerns producing the commodities that we export around the world. We, right across the board, our goal is more employment, more economic growth, more jobs, more opportunities and that opportunity, those opportunities, are built on a platform of security, economic security, national security, energy security.
So that is the objective of my government. More economic growth, more opportunities, more jobs, built on a foundation of security.
That is what we are delivering today and that is what we are delivering every day.
We have got the foot down on the accelerator and we are going. We are doing everything we can to drive the economy.
I regret to say that Mr Shorten, he is the handbrake on the Australian economy. Every policy he has discourages investment, discourages employment, discourages business, discourages the engines of growth that Australians needs to have firing up to ensure that we have, and our children and grandchildren have the opportunities they deserve in the years ahead.
Thank you all very much.
It is a great day for Australian industry. A great day for the Air Force. A great day for our future. Our future powered by technology, investment, engineering, innovation - that is where the growth is coming from but above all, that commitment to Australian enterprise, thousands, millions of Australians’ enterprise has built the success that we have had to date and will build greater success in the years ahead.
Thanks.
[Ends]