In this episode, Grant McHerron and Katherine Ziesing, Managing Editor of ADM, meet with Senator David Fawcett, Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence & Trade and John Blackburn, Chair of the Institute of Integrated Economic Research-Australia (IIER). They discuss areas of Australia's supply chains that have critical vulnerabilities to disruption, as the current COVID pandemic is exposing globally.

A key element raised during the discussion is the need for whole of system assessments with an open and broad assessment of the associated risks and vulnerabilities. Examples are provided in the fuel and medical environments where a focus on a single aspect has resulted in a potentially unusable solution due to a lack of supporting products.

Topics covered include the need for sovereign capability in critical areas, establishing trusted supply chains, maintaining the ability to verify compliance of delivered products and the acknowledgement nationwide that additional cost will be incurred in order to obtain that resilience. The discussion also notes that many of these changes will not be possible without Commonwealth procurement rules being modified to include a consideration of supply chain resilience in the value for money assessment.

To help address these vulnerabilities, national resilience workshops are being run by the IIER with participants from industry, unions, government and community groups in order to identify steps that should be taking towards establishing this resilience, not only in Australia but with our regional partners including NZ and Indonesia. Long term changes in government, corporate and consumer behaviour will be required to survive not only the current COVID pandemic but also impacts from future issues from other unexpected sources.

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The ADM Podcast is produced by Southern Skies Media on behalf of Australian Defence Magazine, a Yaffa Media title. The views of the people appearing on this podcast do not necessarily represent the views of Australian Defence Magazine, the Department of Defence or the guests' employer. If you wish to use any of this podcast's audio, please contact Australian Defence Magazine via their website www.australiandefence.com.au or email them via [email protected] to get involved.

Hosted by Grant McHerron

Producer - Steve Visscher

Australian Defence Magazine - 2020