The Australian government is backing Tasmania’s advanced manufacturing sector with a $239,879 Defence Industry Development Grant for Sentinel Boats, based in Derwent Park, Tasmania. The funding has allowed Sentinel to purchase and install new heavy-duty equipment to lift and rotate boat hulls during construction, introduce digital touch-screen systems to manage design and production, and add a five-tonne mobile gantry crane to safely move large components.
These upgrades will modernise the company’s Hobart workshop, improve productivity, strengthen workplace safety and enable Sentinel to build more of its world-class high-density polyethylene sea boats for export and future Defence contracts – strengthening Tasmania’s role in Australia’s sovereign defence capability and creating secure local jobs.
This grant is part of the national Defence Industry Development Grants program, which has delivered 58 grants worth $16.5 million in its first round. The program provides matching grants of up to 50 per cent of eligible costs and supports four key streams:
- Export – to help small and medium enterprises like Sentinel break into global markets.
- Skilling – to upskill more than 200 Defence industry employees across Australia.
- Security – to lift physical, personal and cyber security to Defence standards.
- Sovereign Industrial Priorities – to back advanced manufacturing for critical areas such as submarines, advanced Defence systems and surveillance technology.
The grants will be awarded through to 2028 and now include additional funding to support Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine program.
Senator Carol Brown for Tasmania, said: “This is a win for Hobart and for Tasmania’s advanced manufacturing sector. It means secure jobs for locals and opportunities for small business right across the supply chain. I’ve long pushed for Derwent Park and Goodwood to be places where Tasmanians can work in strong industry jobs and modern manufacturing. This investment helps make that happen and supports a future made in Australia. Sentinel Boats shows Tasmanian engineering skills are world class. Their innovative vessels are already shipped around the world and will now help strengthen Australia’s sovereign defence capability.”
Sentinel CEO George McGuire said: “The systems we now have in place with the assistance of the Defence grant are already enhancing our productivity. We now have the production capacity to meet our own Navy’s and Army’s future needs as well as a range of other government, rescue service and commercial fleet operators. Our contracts with the New Zealand Navy, and our award as their Prime Contractor of the Year in 2023, have really made our own and other Defence forces take note of what we are doing in building high performance craft from High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE). High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) is the next generation of boat building material. Its longevity and durability offer unpredicted operational availability and ride quality is unmatched – offering significant cost savings over many decades of service.”
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