Diplomacy at the Bar series

Through the Defence Industry's "Valley of Death", by Nathan Gray (Managing Partner at AsiaAustralis), is the latest in the Diplomacy at the Bar series, presented by the Australian Institute of International Affairs (SA) in partnership with the University.

In the final years of the last Australian federal Labor Government (2010-2013) there had been a dearth of spending on critical defence infrastructure. This included the ongoing failure to commit to a replacement for the Collins class submarine, and the short-term nature of the Air Warfare Destroyer program. South Australia, which has been a key state in the defence manufacturing industry in Australia since the 1980's, was now approaching what the CEO of the Defence Teaming Centre - former Army Tank Commander Colonel (Ret) Chris Burns described as "the Valley of Death," due to dwindling production contracts.

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