Millions of dollars sunk into military ship warehouse
Austal, Australia's largest shipbuilder, will receive $245 million in loans from the National Reconstruction Fund to build and fit out a manufacturing warehouse at the Australian Marine Complete in Henderson, near Perth. Industry Minister Tim Ayres said the funding would secure industrial capability at a critical time. The loan is the largest single commitment so far from the fund, which provides zero-interest loans for domestic manufacturing and has previously been criticised for funding unproductive projects. Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said the project would create hundreds of jobs on top of the 1200 Austal already employs in Australia.