New report calls for a rethink of Australia’s defence industry

AI Group Chief Executive Innes Willox says Australia thinks of its defence industry as a “silo” separate from the rest of industry after a new report suggested Australia needs to rethink defence to maximise participation. Australia’s defence industry will see a boost from the signing of AUKUS legislation in the US. “What we haven’t done properly to develop that speed and that surge capability – to build things when we really need it – is to really embed defence industry into our national industrial base,” Mr Willox told Sky News Australia. “We think of it now too much as a silo – defence industry is separate from the rest of industry. “We looked at France, Israel, the UK, Canada and Sweden, and they all do it in different ways, but the one key thread is that their defence industry is part of their national industrial base. “That’s how we need to think of things.”