Defence has announced the award of a $365 million managing contract to Lendlease Building Contractors for new Defence facilities in Western Australia.
Minister for Defence Industry Melissa Price says this will deliver for the first tranche of works at HMAS Stirling and the Australian Maritime Complex at Henderson.
The new facilities, which will support up to 750 construction jobs, will be for the Navy’s new Perth-based ships, as well as the increased number of Navy personnel living and training at HMAS Stirling.
“Major infrastructure projects like these will continue to support our defence and construction industries at a time of great uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Minister Price said.
“These works are the third package to be delivered under the Navy Capability Infrastructure Sub-program, which will total approximately $2.1 billion of new facilities and infrastructure to be delivered across Australia over the next six years.”
The facilities at HMAS Stirling include living-in accommodation and a specialist training centre to train Navy’s crews in operating and maintaining the new Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) being delivered to the Navy under Project SEA 1180.
The Australian Maritime Complex site will be used by Navy, in concert with key industry partners, for operational maintenance and through-life support of the Arafura Class.
The announcement, which was released on Saturday the 4th of April follows the commencement of construction of the first of the ten remaining new Arafura Class OPVs that are being built at the Civmec shipyard in Henderson.
The first two OPVs are being built in Adelaide.
The first OPV, HMAS Arafura, will be based at HMAS Stirling. The ship is planned to commence trials in 2021 and begin operational employment from 2022.
