Victoria’s Land 400 dream shot down

GEELONG’S Land 400 dream is up in smoke, and the state government has laid some of the blame on Corangamite federal member Sarah Henderson.

Yesterday (Wednesday), Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced that the Queensland-based Rheinmetall bid had won the $5.2 billion contract to build the 211 armoured vehicles.

If it won, BAE Systems would have based its headquarters in Melbourne but also employed Marand to build hulls and turrets for its AMV 35 vehicle in the former Ford factory in Geelong.

The Department of Defence stated the decision to select Rheinmetall was “the result of a comprehensive three-year tender and rigorous testing process”.

Ms Henderson and the Victorian government both lobbied hard for years for BAE Systems to win, but following yesterday’s announcement, the Victorian government was quick to claim that the decision was made for political purposes.

In a media release titled “Sarah Henderson and Malcolm Turnbull Betray Geelong”, Minister for Industry and Employment Ben Carroll stated Victoria had a proven track record delivering armoured vehicles such as the Bushmaster and Hawkei and it made no sense for Land 400 to be based outside of Victoria.

“This is a disgraceful decision that betrays Geelong, and has been made just to help Malcolm Turnbull shore-up marginal seats in Queensland.”

“Sarah Henderson talked a big game on Land 400 but she has delivered nothing for Geelong yet again.”

Ms Henderson had not responded to a request for comment by the time this newspaper went to press.