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Friday, February 12, 2016
Council pushing for benefits from major ADF training exercise
A large scale training exercise being undertaken by the Australia Defence Force has the potential to boost the city’s economy.
Representatives from the Australian Defence Force (ADF) provided a briefing to Whyalla City Council’s elected members this week, outlining the impact Exercise Hamel (EX H16) would have on the city.
More than 8000 defence personnel are expected to travel to Whyalla from various states and defence orgnisations, including personnel from the US Marine Corp, to participate in the exercise scheduled to take place in June.
Whyalla City Council acting mayor Tom Antonio said Exercise Hamel provided great opportunities for the city to benefit economically.
“A training exercise of this magnitude provides enormous opportunities for contractors and suppliers in the region to undertake work, and therefore provide a major injection into the city’s economy,” Mr Antonio said.
“We are keen to leverage off of this training exercise to ensure Whyalla receives the greatest return possible for allowing the ADF to use our city, our land, and our facilities for this training exercise.”
Mr Antonio said the council had requested that discussions be held with the ADF’s main service provider, Transfield Services, and all local businesses and service providers to ensure, where possible, all goods and supplies would be purchased locally.
“It is imperative that discussions around the purchasing of all essentials, and everything else that will be needed, are being undertaken to ensure the Whyalla community is getting as much of an economic boost as possible,” Mr Antonio said.
The ADF has stated that it will utilise local contractors and undertake local procurement to satisfy its needs for power supply, petrol, mechanical needs, transport services, packaging and storage containers, plant equipment, stationary and printing requirements, vehicle hire, and waste management, as well as using other local services where possible.
“As a council we are looking forward to seeing the ADF come to the party by providing as much of an economic injection for Whyalla as it possibly can,” Mr Antonio said.
“We will be engaging in further discussions with ADF and its suppliers to ensure this happens, and that the people of Whyalla are the ones reaping the benefits for sharing their city for the purpose of this training exercise.”
Whyalla City Council is coordinating with ADF representatives to ensure the community is as informed as possible about the training event prior to it commencement.
Further information will be provided to residents, businesses and local media outlets in the lead up to the training event.