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Australian Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery Pat Conroy has praised the defence workers who “wake up every day and make our country safer” on the sidelines of the Avalon Australian International Airshow.
The Minister for International Development and the Pacific attended the 2025 airshow last week alongside Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles.
More than 200,000 attendances were recorded over the six days of the event, with more than 60,000 attendances during the trade days and 65 conferences, symposia and presentations held.
More than 7,000 Career Day students were in attendance and around 350 aircraft displayed in the air or on the ground.
More than 291 delegations attended from 43 nations, including 20 chiefs of air force or counterparts, 18 representatives and seven US dignitaries.
“Every day there’s 10,000 locals in the Hunter working in the defence industry and they’re part of the 100,000 Australians in the industry nationwide.
“I got to meet lots of them. From Nupress Group in my electorate, to defence manufacturers from right across Australia. And I even got to meet Avalon, the military working dog, too.
“With our record defence spend, we’re backing Australian jobs every step of the way. Because it’s what building Australia’s future is all about.”
Conroy has previously affirmed that the Australian government intends to provide the most significant increase in defence spending since the end of World War II for the next generation.
“We’re making a record investment in defence to accelerate the delivery of new capabilities. So that we can keep Australians safe,” he said.
“We’re backing our Australian defence industry every step of the way.”
Airshow organiser AMDA Foundation described the 2025 event as a “bumper week” despite an aircraft incident occurring on the first public show day on Friday, according to chief executive Justin Giddings.
“Avalon 2025 was all about engagement between industry, defence, the aviation and aerospace community and the general public,” he said.
“Feedback from our exhibitors and Air Force is that once again, the airshow achieved this with flying colours, including the largest industry presence we have ever had at the event.”
“Aviation is a tight-knit community and an incident like this affects us all. Our thoughts are with Paul Bennet Airshows pilot Glenn Collins, his family and his team during this difficult time.
“The Paul Bennet Airshows team are all highly skilled professionals who have participated in our airshows for many years, always with a focus on delivering an exciting but safe performance. We look forward to welcoming the team at future events.
“In aviation and aerospace we are always trying to attract the next generation of innovators, and one of the great experiences of this event was seeing thousands of students learning about how aviation and aerospace can offer exciting and rewarding careers.
“We look forward to returning in 2027, to again deliver one of the world’s great airshows, for industry and the Australian public.”
