{"id":1907,"date":"2012-10-29T05:00:57","date_gmt":"2012-10-28T19:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=1907"},"modified":"2012-10-30T09:15:21","modified_gmt":"2012-10-29T23:15:21","slug":"defence-skills-golden-triangle-right-people-right-place-and-right-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/defence-skills-golden-triangle-right-people-right-place-and-right-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Defence skills golden triangle: right people, right place and right time"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a recent speech to RUSI<\/a>, Raytheon boss Michael Ward outlined how the Australian Defence industry had dropped from close to 30,000 people down to about 25,000 people over the last three years. Given the government would like to see 34,000 people<\/a> upwards in that space over the coming decade I would suggest that the golden triangle for a skilled defence workforce is on very shaky ground.<\/p>\n

\u2018In his July 2009 speech to the Defence & Industry Conference, the then Defence Minister, John Faulkner, predicted a defence industry workforce of 34,000 by 2013,\u2019 Ward told his audience. \u2018Much has changed since then but the reality is we will soon have a defence industry workforce some 30% smaller than the Government expected.\u2019<\/p>\n

Since this time guidance to industry has been a mixed bag. The White Paper of the day sent many a mixed message on the strategic outlook and the hows and whys of the wider defence landscape. Financial details were slim to be filled in at the budget and we all know how that went. Just read anything on ASPI\u2019s site or blog by Mark Thomson on the Defence budget and the complete lack of detail on future spending. Rhetoric is great but the numbers just don\u2019t match up.<\/p>\n

Industry has received a number of planning documents to help them plan their business around defence demands. The Defence Capability Plan (DCP) and the Defence Planning Guide (DPG) offer a ten-year horizon on the programs to come. The information in this document has been changed and updated every six months or so to reflect the changes in dollars and approvals (or cancellations) as they happen.<\/p>\n

The last Defence Industry Policy statement in 2010<\/a> (PDF) from then Minister for Defence Materiel Greg Combet was a short and sweet read. The moral of the story was that some dollars were spent<\/a> on programs to support industry and get used to the fact that we don\u2019t do offsets and nor will we again.<\/p>\n

The Priority Industry Capabilities (PIC) framework was also introduced.<\/p>\n