UK Delegation to Western Australia

Before starting, many of the party attended the Submarine Institute of Australia two day conference in Canberra where the overarching message was the united support for AUKUS. Then onto Perth where the delegation participated in an intense two day programme including site visits to Henderson and a number of defence companies; briefings from Investment & Trade WA (ITWA), Defence West, the Department of Training and Workforce Development (DTWD), the Australian Submarine Agency (ASA), the Australian Submarine Corporation (ASC), and Naval Shipbuilding and Sustainment Group (NSSG); a number of networking events organised with the assistance of WA Australian Industry and Defence Network (WA AIDN) and Henderson Alliance. Amongst the highlights was a lunch kindly hosted by the British Consul General, Maria Rennie. 

The UK delegates included Commander Peter Stanton-Brown, Naval Advisor (Submarine & Underwater Battlespace) Royal Navy, UK Defence & Security Exports, Department for Business & Trade; and Kathryn Essex, First Secretary, Security & Defence Industry who had just been posted to the British High Commission in Canberra and this was her first trip outside of the Capital. Indeed, for most of the delegates this was their very first visit to WA and the feedback was that they were surprised at the existing capability and volume of commercial work that already exists in WA. The participants found the opportunity to see first hand for themselves what WA has to offer extremely beneficial. Having the chance to meet local businesses and officials in person and develop connections was felt to be invaluable and all are looking for future occasions where this might be possible again – some are already planning their next trip back to WA. One participant said “WA, my new favourite Australian state. We need to continue with this sort of thing and with this network we can start making connections and link packages of work together”.