POLICY TO FORGE OUR FUTURE CAIRNS TNQ STATE BUDGET PRIORITIES 2022-23
SPECIALIST BOAT BUILDING AND SUPPLY CHAIN RESILIENCE COUNCIL: CAIRNS STATE ELECTORATE: CAIRNS FEDERAL ELECTORATE: LEICHHARDT
BRIEFING NOTE SUMMARY • Cairns has a long and proud
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history of shipbuilding, with Defence and Coast Guard vessels, cruise ships, and passenger ferries being constructed in the region since 1954. The Cairns Marine Precinct has proven capability in ship maintenance and sustainment, as well as pre-existing supply chain arrangements and infrastructure, and transferrable skills and knowledge that would ensure a ship and specialist vessel building industry could be quickly established. Cairns is ideally located to play an important strategic role in any future foreign policy objectives in northern Australia and the Pacific. However, the industry needs further investment in supply chain resilience if it is called upon to play a strategic role in northern Australia. A commitment from the State and Federal Governments is sought to secure the long-term, continuous building of small specialist Defence vessels, commercial vessels, and enabling infrastructure in Cairns. Specialist shipbuilding and supply chain enabling infrastructure will further enhance sustainment capabilities in the region and will enhance the overall capacity, capability, and resilience of the industry.
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THE ISSUE
The Cairns Marine Precinct (CMP) supports Australia’s strategic defence and foreign policy initiatives, as well as border and fisheries, tourism, and maritime trade operations including essential services to northern Australia’s regional and remote communities. The precinct is home to a large and diverse marine sector with 1603 commercial vessels across tourism, fishing and shipping, and cruising yacht sectors in addition to several Royal Australian Navy and Australian Border Force vessels. After COVID-19 exposed the fragility of Cairns’ tourism-based economy, project cargo and the continued growth of the CMP became critical for economic diversification in the region. The reestablishment of a small specialist vessel and boat building industry to service Defence and industry needs would provide stable growth and jobs for the Tropical North Queensland (TNQ) region and build on the preexisting capability in the precinct andin the region. The Federal Government’s 2020 Defence Strategic Update1 outlined the changing environment for Australia and the strategic realignment of the Indo-Pacific in global geopolitics, primarily due to strategic competition between the United States and China. This has led to Defence prioritising sovereign industrial capability2 and a nation-wide approach to investment. The objectives of the Defence Industrial Capability Plan3 are to broaden, deepen, and grow the industrial base of Defence to enhance Australia’s national security. Cairns
is ideally located to assist with these objectives, with existing marine and international airports that would allow it to play a strategic role in the Federal Government’s Step-Up to the Pacific program and other foreign policy objectives. Cairns also has proven capability in ship maintenance and sustainment, along with a long and proud history in shipbuilding. The pre-existing supply chain arrangements and infrastructure, as well as transferrable skills and knowledge in the precinct, would ensure a specialist boat building industry could be established quickly, whilst contributing to a Defence strategy of regionalisation. As well as Defence vessels, there are a number of commercial vessels that could also be manufactured in Cairns, including tourism and cargo vessels. The Defence and commercial sectors together could provide workload for a continuous pipeline that would enable a greater underlying level of business, leading to an increase in private investment in the region. The commitment of long-term Defence contracts will underpin private sector work and lead to growth and resilience. Investment in a specialist boat building industry and supply chain resilient enabling infrastructure in Cairns will ensure highly skilled jobs and a more diversified and resilient economy for the region. Most importantly, Australian sovereign capability will be improved.
