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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-03-05 Daily Xml
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AVALON AIRSHOW

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (14:51): My question is to the Minister for Defence Industries. Can the minister tell the house about South Australia's representation at the Australian International Airshow and Aerospace and Defence Exposition 2013, which was held in Avalon Victoria last week?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health and Ageing, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for Defence Industries, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (14:51): I thank the member for Florey for her keen interest in this area. Defence is a critical industry for this state, and the growth of advanced manufacturing in the aerospace sector forms a key part of the state's advanced manufacturing division.

The aerospace and defence exposition in Avalon is the largest civil and military aviation and aerospace trade show in the Southern Hemisphere. It serves to promote the development of Australia's aviation and aerospace industries. As well as providing a showcase for Australian companies, Avalon 2013 provided the platform for a program of conferences, workshops, seminars and events designed to provide networking, sales and business development opportunities for all industry participants.

Avalon 2013 provided the opportunity to promote South Australia as the focus for national intelligence and surveillance capabilities, building on Defence's existing capabilities at Edinburgh, the major centre for advanced aerospace component manufacturing and metal processing within Australia's national aerospace manufacturing capability, the location for increased national and international military tests and training activity, the hub for military simulation concept development and solution engineering, and the ideal environment to establish or relocate additional defence and ADF units in South Australia.

South Australia was well represented at Avalon 2013, with a strong delegation of local industry promoting their capabilities to national and international delegates and active involvement by members of the high-level Defence SA Advisory Board chaired by General Peter Cosgrove ACNC. During Avalon 2013, I spoke with senior leaders from a number of national and international defence companies as well as a raft of defence personnel, including the Hon. Dr Mike Kelly AM, MP, Minister for Defence Materiel.

Can I conclude by congratulating Brighton Secondary School and Adelaide High School, who represented our state proudly when they took on their interstate counterparts in last week's F1 Schools Technology Challenge national final at the Avalon air show. Brighton Secondary School's team were yet again crowned national champions, and I am sure all members will wish them well when they represent Australia at the world final in our sister city of Austin, Texas in November later this year.

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