Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

Well may the Labor Party laugh, because in the six years that they were in government they commissioned not one vessel, creating the very valley of death that we are seeking to ameliorate by making the decisions that we are getting on with. Just last month I cut steel—I pressed the button, Mr Speaker—at HD Plasma and Laser Cutting services on the first of 54 vessels—the Pacific patrol vessels, 21 vessels creating over 500 jobs and costing $300 million. That is just the beginning, because from the Pacific patrol vessels we go to the offshore patrol vessels, 12 vessels being built in Osborne and Henderson, costing $5 billion, and then to the future frigates, a $35 billion project creating nine vessels to be built at Osborne, and then to the 12 submarines, a $50 billion project creating thousands of jobs.

Opposition members interjecting—

Labor think it is hilarious. In the six years they were in government they managed to reduce spending on defence to 1.56 per cent of GDP. The last year in which a government in Australia managed to achieve that was 1938, when the government of the time was part of the appeasement movement around the world. That is what Labor managed to do. Labor managed to reduce our spending to 1.56 per cent.

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