Joined by special guest, The Hon. Pat Conroy, Minister for Defence Industry, 
Minister for International Development and the Pacific, the Illawarra Shoalhaven Defence Industry Conference is an important event that will showcase the significant developments occurring within defence industry in the region to both a local and external business executive audience.

Event Overview

The second Illawarra Shoalhaven Defence Industry Development Conference was hosted by Business Illawarra in Shellharbour on Friday 1 March 2024.

This year, was the begining of a partnership with AMDA Foundation in its inaugural year of running Airshows Downunder Shellharbour, to present the Conference as a curtain raiser to the Airshow and to profile the region’s growing defence industry. 

We were thrilled to engage with special guests Pat Conroy the day following the release of the Defence Industry Development Strategy. Additionally, we gained valuable insights from a lineup of speakers including David Harding, Steph Steel, Mai Le, Paul Di Pietro, Zac Smith, Paul Angelatos, Timothy Lihou, Cliff Kyle, Peter Lipscombe and Sam Barlow.

The event featured special presentations from Vice Admiral Tim Barrett AO CSC (ret), and Captain Scott Palmer, Commanding Officer at HMAS Albatross, followed by Air Marshal Geoff Shepherd AO (ret) at the Illawarra Shoalhaven Defence Conference Dinner - in partnership with AMDA Foundation.