First defence, then space will earn SA billions, says UniSA defence and space director
The state’s defence industry has begun a new era of spending – more than $200bn – that will employ thousands.
South Australia’s defence industry has entered a new era of spending that will provide employment to thousands, says an industry expert.
UniSA defence and space director Matt Opie said the much-vaunted defence boom within Australia “is real”, with the state poised to reap huge benefits.
“There is spending north of $200 billion in South Australia alone,” he said.
“This includes the submarines, frigates and other platforms.”
Mr Opie said SA was ideally positioned to play a key role in defence – and the rapidly developing Australian space industry.
“We have a heritage in defence going back to the 1940s with the establishment of the Woomera missile test range and the British nuclear tests in the 1950s,” he said.
“We have significant global companies here in Adelaide, we have hundreds of SMEs and excellent infrastructure like Osborne.
“With 7 per cent of the nation’s population and 30 per cent of the nation’s defence industry, SA is in an ideal place to leverage this defence boom, which will go for decades.”
Mr Opie, a former army officer who spent two decades working within the SA defence industry before joining UniSA, said the defence boom would be followed by a space boom.
“They are complementary,” he said. “The defence boom will set the scene for the space boom to follow.”
Mr Opie is among university staff who recently have moved into its new Enterprise Hub on Light Square, largely established to support South Australian companies.
Also a start-up hub and business incubator, the centre inside a heritage-listed building will be the university’s main access point for innovative companies looking to engage with UniSA.
“The Enterprise Hub ensures that we are an university aligned to industry and that we are providing industry with what they want by providing the right services to the right people,” said Mr Opie.
“Traditionally, universities have been very good at research and education but we do much more than research and education.
“We engage with our community, we solve problems, we help industry achieve its goals.
“As well as being a shopfront for our core activity of research and industry engagement, the hub will provide access to our other service offerings such as accessing graduate talent, customised training and using our infrastructure.”
Mr Opie said a team of business development managers would help companies develop ideas with the help of researchers within UniSA’s specialist centres.
“We’ve got a range of service offerings that extend beyond research and education which we have structured accordingly,” he said.
“What the hub will provide is an avenue for industry to engage with all of these services.
“Companies can contact or visit the hub and we can direct them to the most appropriate areas for them, either physically or virtually.”
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Mr Opie said international defence giant BAE Systems already had asked UniSA to customise a program that would help train staff while completing degrees.
The UniSA Enterprise Hub will be officially opened next month.
Originally published as First defence, then space will earn SA billions, says UniSA defence and space director
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