Incat push for Defence dollars

Incat workers Grant Wise, left, Graeme Young, Matthew Hale and Steven Hill prepare the firm's latest vessel.

TASMANIAN industry -- including major ferry manufacturer Incat -- is at the centre of a new push to secure millions of dollars of Defence Force contracts for the state.

A delegation of the state's politicians, business and union leaders will push for a greater share of Defence Force contracts at key talks in Canberra this week.

The campaign comes after Navy shipbuilders were the big winners in the Federal Government's 2013 Defence White Paper.

Incat managing director Craig Clifford says the Hobart ship-builder's high-speed ferries are ideal for the Australian Defence Force.

Incat has built a range of vessels for defence forces around the world, including the US and Japan.

"Our high-speed craft is being embraced in the US but are being ignored by the Australian Defence Force," Mr Clifford said.

The delegation, headed by Labor Senator Carol Brown, will meet Defence Materiel Minister Mike Kelly and will also call on the Federal Government to unveil its defence spending intentions for Tasmania.

Australian Manufacturing Workers Union state organiser Steve Walsh, Glenorchy Mayor Stuart Slade, Tasmanian Industry Group chief Daniel Leesong and Labor candidate for Denison Jane Austin will join Senator Brown on the mission.

Mr Clifford said the Defence White Paper mentioned other states but not Tasmania.

"In an election year, I think it is fair for Tasmanians to know what the Federal Government's intentions for Defence spending in the state are," he said.

He said the firm's vessels had been used in disaster relief efforts such as Hurricane Katrina and conflicts including the Iraq war.

Senator Brown said the delegation would push the case for Incat and the Tasmanian shipbuilding industry to play a greater role in national Defence procurement and capability.

"As outlined in the 2013 Defence White Paper, over the coming decades Australia will require a range of capabilities to address our strategic challenges," Senator Brown said.

"There is a great opportunity for Incat and the Tasmanian shipbuilding industry to play a role in helping deliver these capability projects."

Mr Clifford said Tasmanian companies had the capabilities to provide a wide range of manufacturing duties for the defence force.

"I am going as a flag-bearer for Tasmanian industry," he said.

"There are capabilities that are largely being ignored by the Government of the day. Tasmania has some great products and capabilities. Tasmania is being short-changed at the moment."

In 1999 Incat leased a vessel to the Royal Australian Navy during the East Timor crisis.

As HMAS Jervis Bay, it provided a valuable fast supply service between Darwin and Dili.

Incat later supplied three vessels to the US military.

The call for a high-speed catamaran in Navy service resurfaced after Cyclone Yasi hit Queensland in February 2011 and the Navy was unable to assist because its three amphibious ships were not seaworthy.

matthew.smith@news.com.au

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