The Palaszczuk Government has announced Defence Industries Queensland will now be known as Defence Jobs Queensland – delivering on an election commitment that will refocus the state's defence industry agenda moving forward.
Minister for State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning Cameron Dick said the new agency emphasises the government's commitment to support the creation of more high-paid, knowledge-based defence industry jobs for Queensland.
"Queensland is fast becoming Australia's 'khaki state' after securing the Commonwealth's $5.2 billion LAND 400 Phase 2 project last year," Mr Dick said.
"Meanwhile, construction of the $170 million Military Vehicle Centre of Excellence (MILVEHCOE) at the Redbank Motorway Estate in Ipswich is already underway.
"Winning these contracts and progressing this work is about jobs for Queenslanders, so it makes sense to rename the agency to better reflect our objectives.
"Jobs are my number one priority. They're the Premier's number one priority. And it's the Palaszczuk Government that's taking action across the state to boost our economy and ensure Queenslanders benefit from these defence industry jobs."
The announcement comes just days out from one of the largest defence conferences in Australia – the Australian Defence Magazine (ADM) Congress, which will be held in Canberra on 13 February 2019.
Queensland's Chief Strategic Defence Advisor Lt Gen. Peter Leahy AC (ret'd) will fly the flag for the state's burgeoning defence industries at the event.
"Queensland is rapidly establishing itself as a leader in advanced manufacturing and has a well-established culture of defence procurement and maintenance," Mr Dick said.
"Our manufacturing industry employs 169,000 people, who are equipped with the skills needed to deliver the next generation of major, high-tech defence projects – and we want to see these men and women best utilised.
"The recent creation of a Ministerial Council on Defence Industry and Jobs, and the North and South Queensland Defence Advisory Boards, further strengthens our government's engagement with the industry.
"We will continue to seek out new opportunities to grow our defence industry as we work to cement our place as a global player in this space."
Since January 2015, 186,400 jobs have been created in Queensland.
In December 2018 alone, 6000 jobs were created, with three-quarters of those jobs full-time.
To learn more about the Palaszczuk Government's plan for job creation in the defence space, download the Queensland Defence Industries 10-Year Roadmap and Action Plan.
