NIOA today welcomed an announcement by the Federal Government that it would support a proposal to establish an advanced forging and manufacturing facility in regional Queensland to produce artillery shells and other munitions products for the Australian Defence Force and export to selected defence forces overseas.

NIOA and Dusseldorf-based Rheinmetall AG have proposed the establishment of the $60 million facility in the regional city of Maryborough creating 100 direct, long term and highly skilled jobs in the surrounding Fraser Coast region. The companies have formed a joint venture to establish the facility and applied to the Commonwealth for funding support arguing it would establish a sovereign military capability in the local region.

The application for funding of $28.5 million was approved under the Federal Government’s “Regional Growth Fund” which aims to support projects of greater than $20 million investment that would be considered transformational to a regional economy. The project remains subject to final approval and the companies are also seeking additional support from the Queensland Government.

NIOA Managing Director Robert Nioa said the forging and manufacturing facility would ensure future munitions supplies to the ADF will be Australian-made and create Australian Industry Capability for current and future contracts.

“NIOA is proud to partner with Rheinmetall to establish an important project that will create a sovereign military capability in Australia and hundreds of jobs in regional Queensland,” Mr Nioa said.

“While final approvals are now under consideration, the support from the Commonwealth will underpin the facility’s construction and fit out, bringing benefits to SME’s across the Fraser Coast region.”

Mr Nioa paid tribute to the Federal Member for Wide Bay Llew O’Brien MP for his support for the project.

“The Member for Wide Bay has worked assiduously to secure Commonwealth support for this project alongside Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack MP, Minister for Defence Christopher Pyne MP, and the Minister for Defence Industry Steve Ciobo MP,” Mr Nioa said.

“They have been incredible to work with. It is great to see Members of Parliament working so hard to deliver tangible results for regional QLD. Without them this project simply would not be moving ahead.”

“Commonwealth support has enabled this project to move past a critical phase and we welcome the Federal Government’s approval of the grant.”

This investment by Rheinmetall follows the company’s selection as the supplier of the Australian Army’s new fleet of Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles under the $5.2 billion Land 400 Phase 2 program.

For more information please visit:  www.defence.nioa.com.au/projects

NIOA

Established in 1973, NIOA is Australia's largest privately-owned company supplying weapons, ammunition and technical support to commercial, military and law enforcement markets.

Rheinmetall

Rheinmetall sets the global standard for excellence in a wide array of disciplines and offers an extensive array of military hardware that delivers mobility, lethality, survivability of troops, reconnaissance capability and networking of national and international systems.

For more information visit: www.rheinmetall-defence.com

Representatives from the Federal government and joint venture partners NIOA and Rheinmetall AG at the announcement today. From L-R: Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack; Llew O’Brien, Member for Wide Bay; Robert Nioa, Managing Director NIOA; Rod West, Rheinmetall AG

Computer modeling of the proposed forging and manufacturing facility in Maryborough.

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