Australian shipbuilder cuts first steel in promised rebirth of naval industry
It's one small step for an Australian shipbuilder, but a giant leap for the country's plans for a major defence industry. When the first steel plates for a new fleet of Pacific patrol boats are laser-cut at a small plant in southern Perth on Wednesday, it will be the start of a continuous 30-year program that Australian companies and the Federal government hope will help spur a major export industry.