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Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds have announced a major investment in the lethality and survivability of Australia’s Special Forces, thanks to a $3 billion investment in cutting-edge equipment under the Coalition government.
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The Commonwealth government has approved the first stage of Project GREYFIN, which will provide the first $500 million of a $3 billion planned investment over 20 years.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the funding will ensure our Special Forces can better respond to threats, including that of terrorism.
“I’ve always said keeping Australians safe is my government’s number one priority. That’s why we’re ensuring the men and women in our Special Forces have the equipment and training they need to succeed in their operations.”
The Prime Minister added, “Australian Special Forces undertake complex, highly demanding operations in high-threat environments.”
Defence Minister Linda Reynolds said Project GREYFIN ensures our Special Forces have the best body armour; weapons; diving, parachuting, roping and climbing systems; medical search and rescue; communications; human performance training and support; and everything else they need to help ensure Australia’s security.
Minister Reynolds said, “Our Special Forces, now more than ever, need to be ready and able to deploy on operations anywhere in the world, at short notice, and in very uncertain conditions.”
“This first stage of funding enables our Special Forces to engage with intelligence, science and technology and innovation organisations to ensure future threats and opportunities are assessed to make sure we are delivering them the capability they need in the future,” Minister Reynolds added.
This commitment continues to pursue the special operations capability enhancements outlined in the Defence White Paper 2016.
The Coalition government is investing more than $200 billion in Australia’s defence capability over the next decade – the nation’s biggest peacetime investment in Defence. By 2020-21, Australia will have restored investment in Defence to 2 per cent of GDP.
