THE HON ANDREW HASTIE MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR DEFENCE

THE HON LUKE HOWARTH MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR DEFENCE INDUSTRY
SHADOW MINISTER FOR DEFENCE PERSONNEL

JOINT STATEMENT
DEFENCE INDUSTRY MINISTER: MISSING IN ACTION AT INDO-PAC 2023

Friday 10 November 2023

The Indo-Pacific 2023 International Maritime Exposition was held in Sydney this week. The biggest defence industry gathering in the Southern Hemisphere.

Despite an abundance of cutting-edge intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance providers, no one could find Labor Defence Industry Minister, Pat Conroy.

He managed to evade every radar, sonar and eyeball present at the conference.

The Minister even evaded detection at a packed-out defence industry gathering, and was declared missing in action, until he turned on his social media beacon in the Cook Islands.

Search and rescue has been stood down. We are relieved to see him in his Miami Vice rig, hanging with the Prime Minister.

But we are all still wondering: where is the Defence Industry Minister? Does he care about Australia’s industrial base? Does he care about the hardworking small and medium businesses innovating to protect our country?

Based on his frequent absences and inaccessibility, we think he has other priorities than building our sovereign defence industry.

The message from across the Exhibition floor was clear and consistent, and that is the Albanese Government has failed Australian defence industry.

We continue to wait for Labor’s response to the surface fleet review which has resulted in delays and uncertainty for businesses across the industry.

The good news is that the Coalition was at the conference for the full three days. We are committed to a strong ADF, a strong sovereign defence industry and reviving Australian advanced manufacturing.

[ENDS]