New $230 million defence industry centre for jobs growth to be built in Adelaide

ADELAIDE will become the headquarters of a new $230 million national centre to spearhead defence industry jobs growth, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has announced.

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ADELAIDE will be the headquarters of a $230 million national centre to spearhead defence industry jobs growth, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has announced.

Starting a three-day pitch to South Australian voters, Mr Turnbull released details of the Centre for Defence Industry Capability, which will work with businesses to drive innovation and exports.

The centre, likely to be at Osborne’s naval shipbuilding hub, is a cornerstone of the Defence White Paper released a fortnight ago and is expected to house dozens of high-end industry economists, analysts and other experts.

Mr Turnbull detailed the plan ahead of a Cabinet meeting in Adelaide this morning and an expected trip to Whyalla, where he is being urged by Premier Jay Weatherill to help save 3000 jobs at floundering steelmaker Arrium.

Securing the centre reinforces SA’s reputation as the Defence State but will not silence questions over whether submarines and offshore patrol vessels will be built at Osborne as part of an $89 billion naval shipbuilding program, “centred” on Adelaide and announced last August.

Declaring that the new centre would transform the relationship between defence and industry, Mr Turnbull said: “This is a 10-year, $230 million investment that will create more jobs and drive growth in Adelaide and across the country.”

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, with SA federal MP Christopher Pyne, state opposition leader Steven Marshall and Defence Minister Marise Payne at Fugro LADS Corporation in Adelaide today. Pic: Kelly Barnes

Industry, Innovation and Science Minister Christopher Pyne said the centre would ensure government defence spending — $195 billion over the next decade — maximised Australian content, jobs and exports.

It will bring together government defence and industry departments along with the private sector, working with businesses, universities and other groups to help access markets and build skills.

Mr Pyne said the centre would open in the second half of this year and would champion Australian industry.

“This is going to focus on creating jobs and growth in the industry ... Malcolm Turnbull wants as much of the Australian defence dollars invested in Australia as humanly possible,” he said.

“The Centre for Defence Industry Capability makes a lot of sense because we’ll be able to identify how to do that, which is good for taxpayers and good for Defence.”

Today’s Adelaide Cabinet meeting also will involve pre-Budget talks by the Expenditure Review Committee, while Mr Turnbull will this afternoon host an International Women’s Day event.

He is expected to target the Liberal-held marginal seat of Hindmarsh tomorrow with a “politics in the pub” event with Liberal MP Matt Williams, ahead of delivering the keynote address at a Business SA lunch on Thursday.

Premier Jay Weatherill said he expected to meet Mr Turnbull today for talks over a package to save jobs at Whyalla’s struggling steelworks.

“We’ll be wanting to have a shared commitment to the future of Arrium. We’ve certainly got a proposition to put to the Commonwealth,” Mr Weatherill said.

“The company is going to have to do a lot of heavy lifting, the workers have been asked to do a lot of heavy lifting.

“If the state and the Commonwealth are being asked to make a contribution, we expect to see some skin in the game from Arrium.”

Mr Weatherill said a resolution was unlikely to be reached this week due to the complexity of the deal but said steel was an industry of national significance, which should be recognised by the Federal Government.

“SA isn’t going to take responsibility to prop up a national structural steel industry for the nation off its own balance sheet,” he said.

Opposition Leader Steven Marshall said Mr Turnbull was an important ally in the struggle to lift SA out of the economic doldrums.

“I’ll take the opportunity to reinforce to the Prime Minister the critical need for jobs growth in South Australia and the necessity of honouring the promise of building the submarine fleet in Adelaide,” he said.

Business SA chief executive Nigel McBride urged Federal Cabinet to recognise SA was not arguing for special treatment but had the skills, resources and track record to successfully deliver major defence and infrastructure projects.

Mr McBride said defence contracts, economic infrastructure and tax reform could play a key role in stimulating jobs and growth.

SA Unions secretary Joe Szakacs said Mr Turnbull should move beyond announcements to actions, urging him to meet with ASC workers laid off because shipbuilding work was drying up.