MEDIA RELEASE

PINK AND YELLOW ARE THE COLOURS OF MONEY FOR INDUSTRY

Although green, white and blue are colours usually associated with the military, pink and yellow are the colours of money for Australian and New Zealand industry seeking to share in Defence major and minor capital equipment investment.

Each year, the Australian Department of Defence publishes a list of approved and unapproved new major capital equipment proposals. Known as the ‘Unclassified Pink Book’, it is a valuable guide for companies looking for a share of almost $3,000 million which the Defence Acquisition Organisation invests in new capital equipment each year.

As well, the Australian and New Zealand Defence Departments annually publish a summary of procurement plans for minor capital projects, worth up to $A20 million and $NZ5m each. This is known as the ‘Yellow Book’.

The latest ‘Pink Book’ was released in June and covers the period 1998-2003, while the ‘Yellow Book’ for the same period has just been released.

For the first time, both publications are being distributed through the Internet as well as in printed form. They can be viewed or downloaded free from the Internet
at [ site no longer available ] or are available by calling (02) 6266 3623.

“We decided to publish both documents on-line so they will be available to a wider range of small and medium enterprises which might not otherwise know of their existence,” said the Head of Defence’s Industry and Procurement Infrastructure Division, Graham Kearns.

“Defence is undertaking major investments in new capabilities in coming years and we will be relying on industry to meet a wider range of our needs in future,” Dr Kearns said. “So there are significant opportunities for Australian and New Zealand based-companies to do business with us.”

“We want as many firms as possible to become aware of the opportunities that are available from the Defence dollar. This is one way we can provide useful information for companies to determine how they might meet our needs for capital equipment.”

The ‘Unclassified Pink Book’ provides basic guidance about future projects worth over $20 million, so it will be particularly useful for prime contractors and sub-contractors. It provides a good indication of the ADF’s priorities for future acquisitions, so it should be of interest to any firm looking to work on Defence-related projects.

The ‘Yellow Book’ is an important tool for industry because it provides details of specific opportunities in a wide range of industry sectors, including communications, computing, electronics, vehicles and marine engineering.

The full titles of both publications are:

Defence Major Capital Equipment Proposals 1998-2003, otherwise known as the ‘Unclassified Pink Book’.

Forward Procurement Plans for Minor Capital Equipment 1998-2003, also known as the ‘Yellow Book’.

Further information . . .

Mr Mike Lawson: (02) 6266 4496 (w)