The Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) has a proud history of supporting Australia’s defence forces through the production, maintenance, and repair of defence equipment. Our highly skilled members build and maintain ships and submarines, helicopters and other aircraft, munitions, and vehicles. Australian innovations like the Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle not only serve our own military but are exported to other armed forces around the world.
Despite consistently large expenditure on defence assets over several decades, waves of outsourcing and offshoring have seen Australia’s defence manufacturing capacities significantly diminished and increasingly precarious.
The policy paper outlines 11 recommendations to strengthen Australia's sovereign defence capabilities, which you can read here.