New Defence Precinct at Henderson
The Commonwealth Government will establish a consolidated Commonwealth-owned Defence Precinct at Western Australia’s Henderson shipyard to underpin tens of billions of dollars of investment in defence capabilities in the West over the next two decades and support in the order of 10,000 well-paid, high-skilled local jobs.
The establishment of a consolidated Defence Precinct at Henderson is the critical next step in delivering continuous naval shipbuilding in Western Australia. This builds on the announcement last year of a strategic partnership between Defence and Austal Limited at Henderson. It also represents a major milestone on the AUKUS pathway as Australia develops the capability to safely and securely own, operate and sustain conventionally armed, nuclear powered submarines.
The Defence Precinct will support the build of new landing craft for the Australian Army and new general purpose frigates for the Navy, with requisite large vessel infrastructure to form part of the Precinct. These capabilities are vital to transforming our Defence Force’s ability to meet Australia’s complex strategic circumstances.
The Defence Precinct at Henderson will be the home of depot-level maintenance and contingency docking for Australia’s future conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines. These vital maintenance capabilities will be established at Henderson in accordance with domestic processes and regulatory requirements, and consistent with Australia’s international obligations to maintaining the highest standards for nuclear safety, security and safeguards.
Contingency and depot-level maintenance alone will create around 3,000 jobs in Western Australia. This is in addition to the thousands of jobs that will be supported through construction of the Defence Precinct, delivery of continuous naval shipbuilding in the West, and the establishment and operation of Submarine Rotational Force-West at HMAS Stirling.
To deliver this long-term program, the Commonwealth and State Governments have today signed a Cooperation Agreement, which provides a foundation for collaboration to deliver the Defence Precinct and related activities.
A copy of the agreement will be available here: Cooperation agreement between the Commonwealth of Australia and the State of Western Australia to deliver and sustain Australia's future Defence capabilities | Defence Ministers.
