Melissa Parke (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

May I associate myself with the remarks made by other members in this place on the motion relating to Peter Greste and his Al Jazeera colleagues. We wish them all a speedy release and that respect for the rule of law be upheld in Egypt. I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) shipbuilding is an industry that delivers the highest-value and most complex manufacturing outcomes produced in Australia, and therefore represents expertise and capacity that must be maintained for its very significant national economic and security benefits;

(b) as an example of the multiplier effects of shipbuilding projects in respect of the quality and range of manufacturing it both requires and enables, at the commencement of the Collins-class submarine project there were only 35 Australian companies certified to Defence quality standards, whereas by 1998 there were more than 1,500;

(c) there are currently more than 7,000 people employed in shipbuilding across Australia, including more than 4,000 people employed in naval shipbuilding alone;

(d) the Government has identified the need for more than 80 ships over the next 30 years for service in the Royal Australian Navy, and as part of border protection, Antarctic operations and scientific research, among other roles; and

(e) if Australian shipbuilding is not supported through a properly planned and managed program of project and maintenance work, it is likely that shipyards will close, thousands of jobs will be lost, and the critical expertise and capacity that have been developed will be irreparably squandered; and

(2) calls on the Government to:

(a) provide certainty to the Australian shipbuilding industry and to thousands of Australian workers by settling a short, medium and long term program of government shipbuilding projects to ensure a balanced work flow and smooth delivery of key naval assets; and

(b) bring forward relevant shipbuilding projects, including the Pacific patrol boat and replacement Anzac frigate projects, in a timely manner to ensure that shipyards, companies, and workers are not put at risk.

I am glad to bring this motion, because shipbuilding in Australia is an industry with wide and distinctive economic value, and with specific sensitivities that need to be considered, especially at this time. It is an industry that is strongly present in my electorate of Fremantle. The Australian Marine Complex at Henderson is a world-class centre for excellence in manufacturing and fabrication, in assembly and maintenance, and in new technology development, and the more than 150 businesses within the AMC provide services to the marine, defence, and resource industries.

Needless to say, it is home to a number of shipbuilding companies, including BAE Systems, Austal and ASC, among others, and it includes some unique infrastructure, particularly in the form of the Common User Facility's floating dock, considered the most technically advanced of its kind in the world, and capable of lifting vessels of up to 12,000 tonnes out of the water. The AMC has played an integral part in the maintenance of the Collins class submarines, and is also contributing to the work that allows the ANZAC class frigates to perform their role as Australia's front-line Defence vessels.

I recently met with Australian Manufacturing Workers Union delegates from ASC and BAE Systems, who expressed their concern that jobs and productive capacity, in my electorate and Australia wide, could be put at risk if decisive action is not taken by government. Australian shipbuilders—companies and workers alike—are rightly concerned that, in the absence of a carefully planned and managed program of new projects and maintenance in relation to vessels, which the government has already identified as being necessary, the complex 'ecosystem' of the Australian shipbuilding industry will be damaged.

The reality is that shipbuilding at the level of major Defence projects can only occur through the application of capital and labour resources that cannot be marshalled out of thin air; the companies and workers that produce ships and submarines to serve roles in the Royal Australian Navy are part of a manufacturing 'ecosystem', as I have described it, that takes a long time to develop, and that is sustained by a life-flow of production and maintenance activity. Indeed, as I have stated in the motion, the Collins class submarine project had a dramatic effect in raising and diversifying the productive capacity of hundreds and hundreds of companies, and engaging the input of thousands of highly-skilled workers. That outcome has delivered and continues to deliver wider economic benefits. It also means that thousands of Australians have benefited from education and on-the-job experience that equates to absolutely top-shelf manufacturing expertise.

The complexity and scale of the industry, with the scope of both the capital investment and the investment in education and training, and in human capital more broadly, should not be jeopardised by paralysis within government on this issue. As my colleagues the Shadow Minister for Defence and the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence, have consistently and strongly argued, the government should act now to provide clarity and certainty by taking shipbuilding projects it knows must occur, and committing to those projects in ways that will bridge the gap between work and maintenance that is tapering at present, and the work and maintenance that we already know must ramp-up future.

To conclude I want to emphasise the direct and indirect value of Australian shipbuilding; and I want to emphasise the fine line that exists between an industry that should continue to flourish as the most sophisticated form of manufacturing in this country, and an industry that could fall off a cliff in the absence of responsible action by government. We cannot, as a nation, afford to have another key piece of our manufacturing capacity run down, with the loss of expertise, jobs, and economic capacity that this would represent. Such a loss should be regarded as untenable by any reasonable person, and, above all, it needs to be recognised that if, through government irresponsibility or inaction, the industry is damaged, it is likely to suffer in ways that cannot be repaired.

Even from a purely cost-driven perspective it must be acknowledged that if that damage occurs, future projects will almost certainly take longer to deliver and will cost more. And it must always be remembered that Defence manufacturing is a kind of capacity that carries a national-interest significance above and beyond its economic and social value.

It is for all these reasons that I have brought his motion that calls for the government to take action to provide clarity and certainty; to bring forward projects from within the set of some 80 vessels and $100 billion dollars-worth of ships the Australian government needs to acquire over the next 30 years.

Without this kind of sensible and responsible decision-making we may well see Australian shipbuilding suffer irreparable harm, and that would be a social and economic tragedy.

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