Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for Hindmarsh for his question and I commend his ongoing representation of the constituents of Hindmarsh and the people living in the suburbs of West Lakes to Ascot Park and in between. He is a strong advocate for their interests in this place. As the member says, the government's announcement on the future of surface shipbuilding in Australia has been widely welcomed throughout the country. I will give the House a few examples of that. The former Chief Executive of the Defence Materiel Organisation, Warren King, said this:

At its heart this decision by the government is the most profound and important announcement about this industry since Federation … outside of war.

Andrew Bellamy, the chief executive of the Austal shipbuilding firm based in Western Australia, said it was 'a truly transformative change,' and he went on to say it was 'a damn good piece of policy'—and this coming from one of the leading shipbuilders in Australia. In the honourable member's home state of South Australia, the head of the Defence Teaming Centre, Chris Burns, said of the announcement:

Now the Federal Government has shown leadership in making commitments towards a longer term plan …

He went on to say this is 'a significant vote of confidence in Australia's shipbuilding industry.' Why would he be saying that this is a significant vote of confidence in Australia's shipbuilding industry? For a number of reasons. Firstly, it gives certainty to shipbuilding as an industry in Australia—an industry which, I remind the House, had been completely abandoned by the Labor Party when they were in government. So firstly there is certainty for the shipbuilding industry. Secondly, it means a commitment of up to 2,500 long-term ongoing jobs right throughout Australia, many of which will be in the state of South Australia. Thirdly, it means certainty for Defence itself because we are bringing forward to 2018 the construction phase for the offshore patrol vessels and we are bringing forward to 2020 the construction of the future frigates. As I said, this is certainty for Defence. No wonder there was praise from none other than the Labor Premier of South Australia, Jay Weatherill, who said it 'creates the continuity and jobs that workers in this state and around Australia want.' So the strategy is being praised by none other than the Labor Premier of South Australia, Jay Weatherill.

See this speech in context