Skip to main content

Australia plans to enter top ten defence export countries

Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull attends a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra. (AP)
The Australian government announced on Monday a new strategy to boost Australia into the ranks of the top 10 defense industry exporting countries within a decade.
The government will create a 3.8 billion Australian dollar (USD 3.1 billion) fund to lend to exporters that banks are reluctant to finance, Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne said. Australia is the 20th largest defense exporter with most of its exports including the Bushmaster armored vehicle and the Nulka missile decoy sold to the United States, Britain, Canada and New Zealand.
The aim of boosting Australia into the top 10 defence exporters was “very realistic,” Pyne said “Australia has a very sophisticated defence industry, but we’ve never had a government until this one that’s been determined to drive that into exports in order to grow jobs and the economy,” Pyne told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Trade Minister Steve Ciobo said his government was not concerned that exported arms could be turned against Australia. “This isn’t about providing weapons or arms to rogue regimes or anything like that,” Ciobo told Nine Network television. “We’ve got strict controls and those controls make sure we only supply defense assets in the future to like-minded countries that have a strong human rights record and have protections in place.”
“We know that when countries are strong and others know that they’re strong, then the likelihood of there being conflict is, of course, reduced,” Ciobo added.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Meryl Streep wants to trademark her own name

Meryl Streep has won three Oscars, three Emmys and six Golden Globes during her 40-year long career on stage, screen and television. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP, File) Meryl Streep, the most celebrated actress of her generation, has filed an application to trademark her name. The application was filed with US Patent and Trademark Office on January 22, records show. It requests that the name Meryl Streep be trademarked for “entertainment services,” movie appearances, speaking engagements and autographs. Streep, 68, last week extended her record to 21 Academy Award nominations, this time for her role in “The Post.” She has won three Oscars, three Emmys and six Golden Globes during her 40-year long career on stage, screen and television. It is not clear why Streep would file a trademark application at this stage in her career and her attorney and publicist did not return a request for comment on Monday. Many celebrities trademark their names or catch phrases to pro...
Post a Comment
Read more

Over 1 lakh illegal immigrants arrested in US in 2017

On January 25, Trump issued an executive order to set forth the Administration’s immigration enforcement and removal priorities. (Representational Image) The US authorities have arrested 143,470 illegal immigrants this year, according to a latest report. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in its annual report that it has made 143,470 administrative arrests in fiscal year 2017, increasing 30 per cent Year-on-Year, Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday. An administrative arrest is the arrest of an alien for a civil violation of the immigration laws, which is subsequently adjudicated by an immigration judge or through other administrative processes. Of the total arrests, 110,568 occurred after January 20, which is a 42 per cent increase over the same time period last year, according to the report. US President Donald Trump took the oath of office on January 20 this year. On January 25, Trump issued an executive order to set forth the Administration’s immigrat...
Post a Comment
Read more

Venezuela seeks Interpol red alert for ex-oil czar Rafael Ramirez

Venezuela’s representative to the United Nations Rafael Ramirez poses for a photograph at the United Nations in Manhattan, New York, US. (Source: REUTERS/File Photo) Venezuelan authorities said on Thursday they were seeking an Interpol red alert for ex-oil czar Rafael Ramirez on corruption charges, heightening tensions between the former political heavyweight and the country’s socialist government. Ramirez, who headed the powerful oil ministry and state energy firm PDVSA for a decade, is a longtime rival of President Nicolas Maduro who has become more critical of his handling of the economy, now in its fourth year of recession. State prosecutor Tarek Saab said in a press conference that Venezuela was seeking the arrest of Ramirez for corruption tied to the period when he was commanding the world’s largest crude reserves. “No crying, citizen Ramirez … You have been pointed out by all, including by national public opinion, as one of the main embezzlers and culprits of the …...
Post a Comment
Read more