Supply Chain Resilience with Senator David Fawcett

Supply Chain Resilience with Senator David Fawcett, Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade

COVID-19 has exposed the extent to which western liberal democracies rely on supply chains which are often complex networks of companies spanning multiple international borders. In some cases, the pandemic has highlighted just how concentrated some supply chains are for pre-cursor elements, components or complete products and how exposed advanced economies are to disruptions, whether short term such as from the pandemic or potentially longer term due to coercive measures or conflict.

The Australian Government has recently established the Office of Supply Chain Resilience, within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to provide Australia ongoing capacity to monitor these vulnerabilities and coordinate whole of government efforts to boost supply chain resilience.

In the UK, PM Johnson initiated Project Defend, the Henry Jackson Society assessed 5 eyes vulnerability to the coercive influence of the CCP and the National Audit Office (NAO) has been reviewing Government procurement practices in the light of the pandemic.

As Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, Senator Fawcett will address the many issues around Supply Chain Resilience including  identifying and facilitating business collaboration between Australia and the UK bilaterally, and with like-minded partners to increase collective resilience of supply chains that underpin economic stability and national security for each of our nations.