THE Federal Government has signed a deal for nearly eighty more Thales-built Bushmaster armoured vehicles.
Inked by Minister for the Defence Industry, Pat Conroy, on Wednesday at the Bendigo North factory, he said the new contract would support jobs at the facility and help secure the future of Thales in the region.
“I’m really pleased to announce today that the Australian Government will be signing a contract that secures the future of Thales Bendigo for the next three years,” he said.
“That $160 million contract will be to produce 78 more Bushmaster vehicles, which will secure a future of over 200 high-paid, secure, skilled jobs in the Bendigo area.”
Thales CEO Jeff Connolly said production of the Bushmasters will begin soon, with the impact of the work being felt across different regions.
“Work will begin immediately on the new vehicles,” he said. “With a mix of troop-carrying vehicles and command vehicles to be manufactured over the next 18 months.
“In addition to our direct employment on-site in Bendigo, the manufacture of the vehicles supports around 360 jobs in our Australian supply chain.
“Many suppliers are from regional areas of Victoria and New South Wales.”
After donating 90 Bushmasters to Ukraine Mr Conroy said there was a need to replace them for Australia’s military.
“Let’s be very clear,” he said. “The Bushmaster saves lives. It saves lives and supports the men and women of the ADF every day.
“It’s a recorded fact not a single ADF personnel has lost their life in an explosion on operations when they’ve been in our Bushmaster.
“The men and women can’t do what we need them to do unless they’re well equipped, and they’ve got no better equipment than that produced in Bendigo right here.”
Member for Bendigo, Lisa Chesters, said she was pleased to see a new contract signed.
“Just over 12 months ago I came out to the site, spoke to people about what was going on, and the big question was, ‘what’s next for Bendigo Thales?’” she said.
“We have had a proud defence manufacturing history here at Bendigo and at this site for decades. We are a part of the defence industry fabric.”