"This council will play an important role in helping NSW achieve its target of securing at least 30 per cent of Australia's in-country defence spend within a decade and creating an additional 1,500 defence-related jobs," he said.
"Our efforts to grow the NSW defence industry will support economic growth, jobs and investment in both metropolitan and regional communities, as well as build business competitiveness and workforce skills."
The formation of the Defence Industry Advisory Council was one of the recommendations of a NSW Defence Industry Scoping Study prepared last year by NSW defence advisor John Blackburn.
The scoping study identified future defence industry opportunities for the state and ways to maximise outcomes for the industry and economy.
"If NSW achieves its goals, the combined direct and indirect economic impact could be in the order of $7-$10 billion each year in defence industry work," Macdonald said.
"We will be targeting key projects from the Defence White Paper and building better business relationships with defence primes and defence SME networks.
"We will also be developing high-technology defence business hubs as a magnet for defence work," McDonald said.
"Already we've announced an Air Combat Capability Hub centred around RAAF Williamtown in the Hunter, and a Maritime Capability Hub to target Navy-related projects for Sydney, Newcastle and Nowra.
"Furthermore, we will explore opportunities to use the investment, skills and technology gained from our defence projects to benefit other sectors of our economy and to improve state infrastructure."
Members of the board are:
Chair - Peter Robson, Chairman Consolidated Manufacturing Enterprises
Dr Richard Sheldrake, Director-General, I&I NSW
Air Vice Marshal (Ret'd) John Blackburn AO, NSW Defence Industry Advisor
Rear Admiral (Ret'd) Brian Adams AO
George Campbell OAM
Professor Ross Babbage
Air Marshal (Ret'd) Errol McCormack
Ken Moore, formerly Chief Finance Officer, Department of Defence
Chris Jenkins, Managing Director, Thales
John Allcock, Group General Manager, Raytheon
Alan Rankins, NSW President, Australian Industry Defence Network
Air Vice-Marshal (Ret'd) Peter Nicholson AO, BAE Systems