Australien — $12.6 million funding boost secures future for Tasmanian science and research

Greg Com­bet, the Min­is­ter for Defence Sci­ence and Materiel today announced a $12.6 mil­lion fund­ing boost for the rede­vel­op­ment of Defence Sci­ence facil­i­ties in Scotts­dale, help­ing to secure the long-term future of crit­i­cal sci­en­tif­ic research in Tas­ma­nia.

“The Scotts­dale Defence Nutri­tion and Food Sci­ence facil­i­ties are an impor­tant part of the Aus­tralian Defence Force’s research arm,” Mr Com­bet said. 

“The rede­vel­op­ment will include impor­tant upgrades to pilot food pro­duc­tion facil­i­ties, and chem­istry and nutri­tion laboratories. 

“These facil­i­ties will con­tribute to pro­vid­ing our front­line troops with the qual­i­ty nutri­tion they need to per­form at their best.” 

Mr Com­bet said the new facil­i­ty upgrades cement­ed the crit­i­cal role Scotts­dale plays in meet­ing the nutri­tion­al needs of the Aus­tralian Defence Force. 

“The Rudd Government’s $12.6 mil­lion fund­ing boost for Scottsdale’s Defence Nutri­tion and Food Sci­ence facil­i­ties will arm local food sci­en­tists with the resources they need to keep Aussie troops fight­ing fit long into the future,” Mr Com­bet said. 

“This fund­ing com­mit­ment also reaf­firms the Rudd Government’s com­mit­ment to Scottsdale’s Defence Nutri­tion and Food Sci­ence facil­i­ties, local food sci­en­tists and the broad­er com­mu­ni­ty of Scottsdale.” 

Mr Com­bet said the facil­i­ty upgrades would also have a direct ben­e­fit for the broad­er Scotts­dale com­mu­ni­ty, cre­at­ing jobs and putting mon­ey into the local economy. 

“The Rudd Government’s $12.6 mil­lion upgrade of the Defence Nutri­tion and Food Sci­ence facil­i­ties will also have a direct knock-on ben­e­fit for the com­mu­ni­ty, cre­at­ing about 50 con­struc­tion jobs dur­ing con­struc­tion phase while putting mon­ey into the local econ­o­my,” Mr Com­bet said. 

The Mem­ber for Bass and pas­sion­ate advo­cate for North East Tas­ma­nia, Jodie Camp­bell wel­comed the announce­ment, say­ing the invest­ment would help deliv­er real eco­nom­ic ben­e­fits for the local community. 

“This invest­ment in Scotts­dale is good news local sci­ence and research, good news for jobs and good news for North East Tas­ma­nia,” Ms Camp­bell said. 

Media con­tacts:
Rod Hilton (Tim Fitzsim­mons): 02 6277 7620 or 0447 202 469
Defence Media Liai­son: 02 6127 1999 or 0408 498 664 

Press release
Min­is­te­r­i­al Sup­port and Pub­lic Affairs,
Depart­ment of Defence,
Can­ber­ra, Australia