Besides the submarines, the DSR flagged a significant increase in local capacity to manufacture missiles, which would draw on Australia’s nascent space industry. Here again, the Illawarra would perhaps be wise to avoid angling to be the prime location for the assembly of these missiles, but instead take a closer look at another part of the announcements that went along with the DSR, that of an innovation accelerator. Stepping away from the language of “sovereign capability” which was the catch-cry of the previous government, Mr Thistlethwaite indicated that the government was interested in procuring “in a quicker, more agile and more efficient manner”.
