The successful tender to run the Naval Shipbuilding College will be announced mid December – which is good as the college is set to sail on New Year’s Day. Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne confirmed the dates yesterday in an Adelaide speech.

The college will start with a $25m commitment from the feds, will have a hub at the Osborne ship yard in Adelaide and spokes at universities and colleges across the country. “It will attract, train and re-train more than 1,500 students across Australia in its first few years,” Mr Pyne said in October (CMM October 5).