Cairns chosen as HQ for $2.1b Defence Pacific program

A Defence program has moved from Canberra to Cairns in a move to combat illegal fishing, transnational crime and related security challenges as part of the Pacific Maritime Security Program.

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

On Friday the Department announced that under the Pacific Maritime Security Program (PMSP), Australia has committed $2.1bn to deliver and support 21 Guardian-class patrol boats to 12 Pacific Island nations including Papua New Guinea, Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Palau, Samoa, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and East Timor.

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.”

Lieutenant General John Grey (retired) Australian Army commander, said the move to base PPB SPO in Cairns is brilliant.

Department of Defence Assistant Secretary Specialist Ship, 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.

HMAS Cairns hydrographic systems program office director Andrew Hayes provided an overview of the Australian Navy's 'Plan Galileo' at the Cairns Chamber of Commerce business luncheon. The project is predicted to inject over $140 million in to the Cairns economy. Picture: Brendan Radke

Royal Australian Navy's Rear Admiral Wendy Malcolm said Plan Galileo was part of a $170 million investment. PICTURE: TOBY VUE

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.

Originally published as Cairns chosen as HQ for $2.1b Defence Pacific program