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NSW is aiming to seize economic investment and job growth opportunities with the launch of their own Defence and Industry Strategy, as prompted by the release of the 2016 Australian Defence White Paper, which has offered ample opportunity for Australian businesses to benefit from the $195 billion government investment over the next decade.
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According to the new strategy outline, NSW has received a significant proportion of national defence funding, with defence-related operations in NSW generating in excess of $5.4 billion annually.
The strategy notes that "NSW offers Australia’s largest and most diverse economy and is recognised as a leader in manufacturing, logistics, electronics, information and communication technology (ICT), business services and other areas relevant to Defence needs and global defence markets. From this strong base, NSW: Strong, smart and connected sets out a roadmap enabling NSW to capitalise on its existing strength and positions the state to attract further investment by Defence and industry".
To achieve this capitalisation of the industry, the NSW government is trying to place itself in the best position to respond to upcoming capability and capacity requirements within Defence, both in NSW or "in partnership with other states and territories".
The strategy's economic outline says that "for every $1 billion recurrent defence operational spending (non-capital) that comes into NSW, the estimated economic impact is approximately $1.4 billion in gross state product (GSP) and 10,000 jobs supported".
The strategy says that to grow the state's defence industry and generate jobs and economic growth, the government has committed to:
- working with other states and territories to ensure a national approach to helping defence;
- a whole-of-government approach to supporting and developing the state's defence industry;
- ensuring NSW industry has the required skilled workers;
- leveraging defence expenditure to support innovation and commercialisation; and
- developing a diverse and internationally competitive industrial capability, both in metropolitan Sydney and in regional NSW, where defence spend is more critical to local economies.
