Austal boss Paddy Gregg, one of the first Perth business leaders to respond to the US election, says he doesn’t believe the result will impact AUKUS.
Austal chief executive Paddy Gregg believes the result of the US election will not have a major impact on AUKUS, as the trade deal is “beyond politics”.
Speaking at a Property Council of Australia WA Division event on the industrial sector today, Mr Gregg was one of the first Perth business leaders to respond to the unfolding US election.
When asked what impact Donald Trump winning would have on Australia, Mr Gregg said he believed the difference would be minimal.
“There may be some interesting ups and downs as we go through,” he said.
“We’ve seen Trump before, and as ideas come into his head, they come out of his mouth pretty much simultaneously.
“There may be a couple of tweaks and variations and some things we have to manage, but my view is that things like AUKUS are so big, they are ingrained in the system, and they are bigger than politics.
“They’re about the defence of the nation, and that was a huge undertaking to sign that.
“My personal opinion is it’s bigger than politics, and it won’t really matter who gets in, there might just be a few rocks in the road as we as we move through.”
Mr Gregg’s remarks followed Austal chairman Richard Parker's comments last week that AUKUS would stay on track regardless of who won the election.
AUKUS, a trilateral partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, is expected to strengthen the abilities of each government to support their security and defence interests.
As a global player in the shipbuilding space, Austal is heavily impacted by the deal.
Minerals Research Institute of Western Australia chief executive Nicole Roocke said there were significant opportunities for WA in the supply of critical minerals into the defence sector.
“What we don’t really have a good understanding of is exactly what those products are that are needed, and the funding and financing,” she said.
“Despite everyone saying that they want alternative supply chains that don’t run through China, the funding and financing into those developments into Western Australia aren’t yet happening.”
Mr Gregg added that critical minerals were vitally important to AUKUS and the future of missles.
“A missile today might travel at Mach three, these hypersonic missiles they’re talking about will travel at Mach 10 or greater,” he said.
“The critical minerals we’re talking about are the clever stuff that will go on the front of that missile, because you can imagine the heat build-up as it’s travelling at Mach 10 rather than Mach three. Current materials we use today will melt and the missile will obliterate.
“It’s really cutting-edge stuff that is being developed here in Western Australia, and these critical minerals that we have abundantly in our country will be in the future for defence.”
