The Far North has a simple message for Canberra – bring it on.
We are ready to play a central role in national security and we can do it without even raising a sweat.
The Cairns Marine Precinct and Cairns Airport are the big guns in our Defence infrastructure and industry arsenal that spans our great Far Northern footprint.
That’s why Advance Cairns is pushing for our region to become a major Defence maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) hub for Northern Australia.
It’s in our DNA and we’re ready to go.
Cairns is home to the largest marine workforce of anywhere in Northern Australia with more than 4600 people driving shipyards, commercial and tourism fleets, towage and small business that in turn powers our economy.
That grunt force of skills and expertise hasn’t happened overnight.
It’s taken decades and it continues at TAFE’s Maritime College, along Trinity Inlet and beyond.
Defence personnel are already here gaining experience and upskilling onboard commercial vessels at our port through training programs.
The marine precinct is home to HMAS Cairns where the government has spent $250m on upgrading and constructing a new 212-metre wharf which will significantly expand the base’s capacity and strengthen its ability to support naval operations across the region, including the many foreign navies which already utilise our international port.
Six Arafura-class vessels are being introduced into service, with one already commissioned with the possibility of at least one being home-ported in Cairns from next year.
We can support more.
The 2026 National Defence Strategy released earlier this year specifically noted its intention to expand Defence capability across Northern Australia and maritime approaches placing the Far North at the forefront of the nation’s evolving strategic posture.
No Defence force in the world would ever contemplate putting all their firepower in the one place.
So we are building a reputation on our unique and strategic advantages of geography, capability and capacity.
Cairns can hand Defence what it needs on a plate – a premium, cost-effective maintenance hub on the doorstep to the Indo-Pacific that keeps their fleet lethal and at sea for longer.
The common user facility with its 5000-tonne shiplift, currently in the Expressions of Interest phase, will boost our capability, meeting the growing demand to maintain and repair larger vessels across industries.
But it is just one piece of the puzzle.
Attractively for Defence, Cairns’ marine precinct has no constraints in delivering or developing for their future needs.
The $12m spent by the State Government on a new barge ramp at the bottom of Tingara Street in preparation of the CUF, and available land, puts Cairns in the box seat to home port new amphibious and littoral vessels under the Land 8710 program.
Up for grabs are 18 Landing Craft Medium, eight Landing Craft Heavy, and 15 Amphibious Logistics Vehicles.
It would be logical to homeport where maintenance can be done giving our economy a new head of steam.
But let’s be clear, we have history here.
For almost 30 years HMAS Cairns was home to three Balikpapan-class Landing Craft Heavy vessels, which were decommissioned in 2014.
Besides Defence, landing craft play a vital role in natural disasters because they don’t require ports, wharves or deep water to deliver aid. If a cyclone hits our shores, they’ll be able to assist faster throughout the North.
What makes our maintenance hub claim even stronger is Cairns Airport.
It provides the international airlink capability and capacity to support an increased Australian and allied Defence presence.
It is the only airfield on the east coast of northern Australia capable of supporting the Royal Australian Air Force’s heaviest aircraft with its 3156m long runway, the second largest in northern Australia.
Cairns Airport has the capacity to park and fuel large Defence aircraft and it has the global connectivity to service parts for the marine precinct.
Advance Cairns has been working with Leichhardt MP Matt Smith in fighting for Land 8710 and becoming a major Defence MRO hub, and will press the point in Canberra next week.
The Far North can do more for the nation while building a stronger economy for us.
Recent Comments