Hunter Defence Conference 2021

The Hunter Defence Industry continues to grow stronger

The Hunter Defence Conference 2021 was held in April in the Hunter Valley and attended by the large primes, NSW SMEs, academia, and the Department of Defence. The conference was completely sold out with industry partners keen to build networks and discuss the future of the industry after the forced cancellation of the conference last year. The themes this year included skilling and workforce readiness, capability development, investment opportunities for SMEs and driving collaboration in the defence industry.

The Honourable Melissa Price, Minister for Defence Industries, was a keynote speaker and is a huge advocate for Hunter Defence. The Government is investing AUD $270 billion to modernise Australia’s defence capability and is focusing on developing the industry within Australia rather than using foreign supply where possible. BlueZone Group is proud to be a 100% Australian owned and operated company.

Defence industry growth will increase demand for skilled workers particularly with STEM skills which are already needed in the Hunter. The conference highlighted the need for skills development and reviewed the current skill shortages faced in the industry. There is great need for students to continue their studies in STEM and different career pathways into Defence were discussed. BlueZone believes in supporting students to build their futures by building on their studies in STEM and is proud to mentor and teach technical and engineering skills to students each year.

BlueZone Group was proud to be represented by Elizabeth Karpiel (BlueZone CEO) on the panel for Hunter Based SMEs in Defence. The panel focused on the issues, challenges and opportunities faced by SMEs in the defence industry. SMEs are an extremely important part of the industry making up 3,000 of the estimated 3,300 companies in the industry. Effective collaboration with the primes and Department of Defence allows all parties to use their strengths to deliver the best results.

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2021 Hunter Defence Conference SME Representatives for Panel Discussion.