AIDN Lunch Briefing with

Mike Pezzullo

Chief Operating Officer

Australian Customs and Border Protection Service

Mike Pezzullo took up the position of Chief Operating Officer in the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service in July 2009.  Previously he was Deputy Secretary Strategy in the Department of Defence from January 2006. In this role, he was responsible for defence strategy and planning, force structure development, the strategic policy aspects of Australian Defence Force operations, Defence's international security relationships, and delivering national security programs in areas such as export controls, counter-proliferation and Defence cooperation with other countries. He also oversaw the Department’s ministerial support and public affairs programs. Mr Pezzullo joined the Department of Defence as a graduate in 1987. He worked in Defence until 1992 in a variety of strategic policy and intelligence positions. He then transferred to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, where he worked in the International Division. In March 1993, he joined the staff of the Foreign Minister, Senator the Hon Gareth Evans QC. He remained in Parliament House until December 2001, including serving 5 years as Deputy Chief of Staff to the Leader of the Opposition, the Hon Kim Beazley MP.  In February 2002, he rejoined the Department of Defence as an Assistant Secretary in the Corporate Services and Infrastructure Group (now Defence Support Group). In March 2004, he was promoted to the position of Head Infrastructure. In July 2004, he was transferred into the newly formed role of Chief Of Staff Australian Defence Headquarters and Head of Coordination and Public Affairs Division.  Between February 2008 and May 2009 he led the Defence White Paper team and was also the principal author of the 2009 Defence White Paper.

AIDN Lunch Briefing with Mike Pezzullo

Proudly Sponsored by Ernst & Young

Cost

AIDN Members: $90.00

Non-Members: $120.00

(includes GST)

Dress

Business attire – coat and tie required.

Click here for registration form (PDF)

Click here for registration form (MS Word)

AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE INDUSTRY SMEs CALL FOR REFORM

Statement by Mr Mark Smith , Acting AIDN National President

The Australian Industry & Defence Network (AIDN), Australia’s largest and most representative defence and national security Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) organisation, today released details of outcomes from its National Committee meeting in Darwin.

“AIDN believes that current government procurement procedures in many cases operate to discriminate against the success of vibrant small and medium enterprises in Australia and this is particularly so in the defence and national security industries” said Mr Smith.  “A successful SME defence and national security business environment gives Australia the best economic outcomes and strengthens Australia’s national security.”

“As stated in the Government’s Defence Industry Policy Statement, the Australian Government was the 8^th largest purchaser of defence goods and services in the world. AIDN is committed to working with the Government to leverage this position and maximise opportunities for Australian SMEs. AIDN is concerned SMEs are finding it increasingly difficult to remain in the industry. By comparison, other countries including the USA and Canada are more supportive of their local small business sectors than currently occurs in Australia.”

AIDN calls for a strengthened SME participation plan to address this imbalance and to leverage the Australian Government’s investment. AIDN also calls for the establishment of an SME Ombudsman to represent the interests of SMEs amongst government departments.  One of the outcomes of the Australian Government’s Defence Industry Policy Statement (DIPS) should be to maximise the whole of government business for Australian SMEs.

AIDN’s role is to participate in national business improvement processes – particularly in the defence and national security industries - and to communicate these issues to its members.

“AIDN looks forward to meeting with the new Minister for Defence and the new Minister for Defence Material to pursue these issues” Mark Smith said.

For further information:

Mr Mark Smith, Acting AIDN National President,  Mob: 0418 893 211

AIDN Lunch Briefing with

Harry Dunstall

General Manager Commercial, DMO

Defence Industry Policy Statement

Building Defence Capability:

A Policy for a Smarter and More Agile Defence Industry Base

Harry Dunstall was admitted to the Supreme Court of Queensland as a solicitor in 1987. He spent the first years of his career travelling and working overseas and within Australia. He managed a small start up grain trading business which provided him with a good insight into the issues faced by small to medium enterprises. In 1997, as Executive Assistant to the then Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Government Solicitor, Harry assisted with the transition of the AGS organisation from being part of the Attorney-General’s Department to a separate commercial Government Business Enterprise (GBE). Before joining the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO), Harry was Special Counsel in the AGS Commercial Group. In this capacity, Harry relied upon his experiences in major commercial transactions to form strategic views on challenges and threats posed to Defence and other Commonwealth clients. Harry joined DMO in 2007 as Special Counsel to Chief Executive Officer, DMO, and was responsible for leading the reform and professionalization of DMO’s in-house legal function and procurement and contracting services (including financial investigation services). Part of these reforms included streamlining procurement processes, signing off legal and commercial aspects of acquisition strategies and working with industry on commercial risk allocation, price indexation, allowable costs policy and performance based contracting. On 25 February 2010, Harry was appointed to the role of General Manager of DMO.

 AIDN Lunch Briefing with Harry Dunstall

Proudly Sponsored by Ernst & Young

Cost

AIDN Members: $90.00

Non-Members: $120.00

(includes GST)

 Dress

Business attire – coat and tie required.

AIDN Lunch Briefing with

Paul C Johnson, MBE

Chief Executive Officer

Lockheed Martin Australia Pty Ltd

Defence Industry Business Briefing

Paul graduated with a Diploma in Aeronautical Engineering from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 1972 and with a Master of Science in Aircraft Design from Cranfield Institute of Technology (UK) in 1974. He was an Engineering Officer in the Royal Australian Navy from 1963 until 1985, during which time he held numerous Aeronautical Engineering positions including senior engineer of the RAN’s Flight Trials Unit and of the Navy’s front line ASW squadron and Deputy Director of Naval Aircraft Engineering in Russell offices Canberra.

After 22 years in the Royal Australian Navy, in 1985, Paul joined General Electric (USA) as the Australian Manager of Business Development for the Aerospace Group of GE based in Canberra.  In 1990, he was assigned as the ASEAN countries Regional Director for Business Development.  In 1994, Paul was promoted to regional President for the newly formed GE Aerospace/Martin Marietta company and remained in this position following the merger of Lockheed with Martin Marietta in 1995 and the subsequent acquisition of LORAL.  During his eight years in Singapore, Paul established, with Tenix, the joint venture company RLM, based in Melbourne. In 1998 Paul moved back to Australia as Chief Executive Officer of RLM Systems, employing over 900 staff in four locations in Australia.  In May 2003, following RLM’s successful delivery of the JORN program, Paul relocated to Canberra as Managing Director of Lockheed Martin Australia and has recently assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer of the newly restructured business in Australia.

He is a Chartered Engineer and was elected a Member of the Royal Aeronautical Society in 1977.  He was awarded the MBE in 1980 in recognition of his contribution to the advancement of Naval Aircraft Engineering.

AIDN Lunch Briefing with Paul C Johnson, MBE

Proudly Sponsored by Ernst & Young

Cost

AIDN Members: $90.00

Non-Members: $120.00

(includes GST)

Dress

Business attire – coat and tie required.

Click here for registration form (PDF)

Click here for registration form (MS Word)

AIDN Lunch Briefing with

Air Vice-Marshal John Harvey, AM

Program Manager New Air Combat Capability

The F35 Program

Air Vice-Marshal John Harvey joined the RAAF in 1977 after completing a degree in Architecture at the University of New South Wales.  After a three year flying tour in the USA on F-111s he completed the RAF Aero systems course and returned to Australia for a three year posting in Technical Intelligence at the Joint Intelligence Organisation. He was then posted to the United States as Flight Test Director of the F-111 Avionics Update Project, initially working with the USAF on the F-111 AMP. On return from Italy he was Deputy Director at the Australian Defence College and then Director of Military Strategy at Australian Defence Headquarters before being promoted and posted as Director General Aerospace Development. On 2nd September 2002 he was posted as Director General New Air Combat Capability.

Air Vice-Marshal Harvey was promoted in November 2006 to become the Program Manager of the New Air Combat Capability within the Defence Materiel Organisation. In 2008, Air Vice-Marshal Harvey was made a Member in the Military Division of the Order of Australia for his service as Program Manager and has been identified for promotion and appointment to Chief Capability Development Group with effect October 2010.

 AIDN Lunch Briefing with AVM John Harvey, AM

Proudly Sponsored by Ernst & Young

 Cost

AIDN Members: $90.00

Non-Members: $120.00

(includes GST)

 Dress

Business attire – coat and tie required.

Click here for registration form (PDF)

Click here for registration form (MS Word)

Click here to go to the AIDN Young Achiever Awards page

Click Here to download Adaptive Campaigning-Future Land Operating Concept

Click here for the speech given by Minister Greg Combet to the AIDN-ACT lunch in Canberra on 28 October 2009

AIDN Lunch Briefing with

Dr Margot McCarthy

Deputy Secretary, Strategic Reform and Governance

Kim Gillis

General Manager Systems, DMO

Martin Bowles

Deputy Secretary - Defence Support

The Defence Strategic Reform Program

The Strategic Reform Program (SRP) aims to realise $20 billion in savings within the Defence portfolio over the next decade.  The Government plans to reinvest all of the savings within the portfolio, including the acquisition and smarter support of equipment. The Strategic Reform Program aims to comprehensively improve the supporting ‘backbone’ of Defence, making the organisation more efficient and effective, and creating significant savings to reinvest in building a stronger Defence Force. These savings and reinvestments are essential to ensure the capability goals set out in the White Paper are delivered.

AIDN Lunch Briefing with McCarthy, Gillis & Bowles

Proudly Sponsored by Ernst & Young

Cost

AIDN Members: $90.00

Non-Members: $120.00

(includes GST)

Dress

Business attire – coat and tie required.

Click here for registration form (PDF)

Click here for registration form (MS Word)

AIDN Lunch Briefing with

The Hon. Greg Combet AM MP

Minister for Defence Personnel, Materiel and Science and

the Minister Assisting the Minister for Climate Change

Defence White Paper 09 and Australian Industry

Mr Combet grew up in western Sydney and worked as a trades assistant, in coal mining, and in a range of community organisations. He has university degrees in mining engineering and economics. He also has a graduate diploma in labour relations and the law.  Mr Combet joined the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) in 1993 and was leader of the ACTU from 1999 to 2007.

Following the Labor Party’s Federal Election win in November 2007, Greg was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Procurement in the Rudd Labor Government. Greg was then appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change on the 25 February 2009. He was appointed to his current positions on 6 June 2009.

AIDN Lunch Briefing with Greg Combet

Proudly Sponsored by Ernst & Young

Cost

AIDN Members: $90.00

Non-Members: $120.00

(includes GST)

Dress

Business attire – coat and tie required.

Click here for registration form.

Defence White Paper 2009

Defence White Paper 2009, released on 2 May 2009, is downloadable here.

Defence White Paper

AIDN's submission to the Defence White Paper is downloadable here

Greg Combet's Speech

The speech given by the Hon. Greg Combet MP, Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Procurement, to the National Press Club on 4 September 2008 is now available from this website. Click here to download.

Defence White Paper Discussion Paper

Defence has released the Defence White Paper Discussion Paper. It is downloadable from:-

http://www.defence.gov.au/whitepaper/discusspaper.htm

 Please note the PDF is a large, 16 MB file.

Joint Training Task Force (JTTF)

The report of Defence's Joint Training Task Force has been released.

Minister Bilson agreed to the entire report on 15 October 2007. The Government has prioritised the

following 6 of the recommendations: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10.

AIDN is represented on the JTTF by AIDN-ACT's Managing Director, Christopher Peters

Click here to down-load the report