Farra Engineering chief executive Gareth Evans made the comment while presenting plans for a new engineering hub to yesterday's Dunedin City Council economic development committee meeting.
Mr Evans said Dunedin had been a leading centre of engineering in New Zealand for more than a century, but major employers like Fisher and Paykel Appliances and Hillside Workshops had since been lost.
Those days were not coming back, but the city had an opportunity to launch a new wave of modern engineering, built on new skills, collaboration and opportunities like Australia's defence upgrade, he said.
The Otago Daily Times reported earlier this month Mr Evans was leading the push to launch a new engineering hub, funded by a slice of the Government's $3 billion regional development fund.
A feasibility study was the first step, exploring the value of a shared facility offering equipment, training and other resources, as well as co-investment and collaboration between Dunedin firms.
The biggest emerging opportunity was Australia's plan to spend $A200 billion upgrading its military over the next decade.
Mr Evans, speaking yesterday, told councillors the plans were a ''nation-building'' exercise by the Australian Government, which required international defence contractors to use domestic firms for at least half the work.
New Zealand's firms were included under closer economic relations (CER), and a lack of capacity within Australia created opportunities here, he said.
The types of work on offer would include everything from manufacturing lift and other equipment to kitchen fit-outs of naval vessels, he said.
Securing $100 million of work would deliver 300-500 new, high-value jobs to the city, and was a realistic goal, he believed.
''We would only need a fraction of a percent [of the work] to make a material difference to Dunedin.''
A collaborative hub would help smaller companies in Dunedin secure work as well, and the initiative also aimed to get industry and education providers working closely together to help prepare students for modern engineering, he said.
The opportunities on offer did not end with Australia's military upgrade, either, as the civil ship maintenance, renewable energy, climate change and general construction sectorsoffered chances for long-term growth, he said.
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Lets hope this doesn't get Cull'ed or the Council or Greens sticks its nose in too much and stops it. They have a track record of not liking things linked to the Defence such as ammunitions so one has to ask where the line is.
Great news if it happens. But I do not see the Aussies granting anything to NZ unless NZ is buying some of the final wares. Quid pro quo. The new government is not too keen on the military.