Townsville Enterprise together with Townsville City Council anticipates big outcomes from the Federal Government’s Houston Smith Defence Strategic Review.
The Review, announced in August 2022, was independently led to better understand where Defence investment should be prioritised.
Townsville Enterprise CEO, Claudia Brumme-Smith said Townsville and the region is uniquely positioned on the doorstep of the Southwest Pacific as Australia’s natural gateway for engagement, training and military operations.
“The region supports a comprehensive range of capability including air, land and maritime bases, advanced training ranges, port, logistics and industry necessary for mobilisation, preparation, projection and sustainment of Australian or coalition forces,” Mrs Brumme-Smith said.
“In the October Federal Budget, we saw a $32 million commitment to the NQ Spark project as well as the recent announcement that the 16th Aviation Regiment would be relocated to Townsville.”
Townsville City Council Mayor, Jenny Hill said the region’s industry base and capability should not be taken for granted.
“To maintain its strength, we need targeted Defence investment focused on building a resilient, sovereign supply chain,” Cr Hill said.
“This will enable North Queensland to rapidly scale-up or scale down to meet Defence Force demands to 2033 and beyond.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in Parliament in February “We want to make sure that our assets are fit for purpose and they deliver the greatest return on investment.”
Townsville Enterprise CEO, Claudia Brumme-Smith said there is no better return on investment than Australia’s largest Garrison city.
“We have the Defence capability, we have over one third of the Army’s combat forces and 7.5% of Townsville’s population is Defence members and their dependents. The building blocks are in place for the region to be a pillar of Defence capability but not without targeted government investment.”
Defence investment and the Houston Smith Review will be at the top of the agenda when Townsville and the regional Mayors meet with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Hon Richard Marles in Canberra later this month.
