Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I must say, Deputy Speaker Price, it's wonderful to watch you sit there with such patience and not burst out laughing at the previous member's contribution. The member for Fisher wants us to pat the government on the back for their efforts to develop a defence export strategy, but we are wondering what he is actually proud of. Is he proud of the fact that this government's inaction is costing Australians jobs? Is he proud that, over the last four years in government, those opposite have been very quick to talk about defence expenditure but are very slow in actually delivering? The government has wreaked havoc on Victorian defence supply enterprises, leaving thousands of people without jobs, over the last two years alone. Australia is at risk of falling behind in defence industry exports, while the government is happy to sit comfortably at No. 5 in defence imports.

I will break that down for you. What it means is that those opposite are happy to spend billions of dollars in defence materiel projects overseas, but when in government they won't invest even a dollar to strengthen Victoria's shipyard capabilities. It's yet another example of this government's continuous neglect of Victorian infrastructure and Victorian jobs. The Victorian Minister for Industry and Employment, Wade Noonan, has warned the government repeatedly that if they don't relocate some defence building works to Victoria then the Williamstown shipyard will close. The Williamstown naval shipyard facility in Melbourne's west has over 1,000 highly skilled workers already employed on its projects. It has been one of the most effective and competitive naval shipyards in Australia and is known to have world-class facilities. The Victorian government has said that the future of the Williamstown shipyard and hundreds of Australian jobs are in the hands of the Turnbull government. Instead of directing money to a flourishing shipyard, the government admits that the projects it's funding in South Australia might not even have enough workers to support them. Why does the government insist on ignoring Victorian infrastructure? We were snubbed on the submarine announcement in 2016 and now we've been snubbed on defence building. It's absurd.

Meanwhile, the member for Fisher wants us to congratulate the government for encouraging Australian local small businesses to supply defence materials. From what I can see, this government is actually giving countries like Spain $13 billion in defence materiel contracts across shipbuilding and aviation. That is $13 billion going straight overseas, while Victorians can't keep their jobs. How exactly does the government think this is encouraging small and medium enterprises all over Australia to explore the opportunity to supply products and services for the ADF?

Key companies in the defence supply industry are sharing in Labor's fight for action to invest in our local industry. They want to know why the government doesn't have a greater focus on export in the industry, and why it is not focusing on this as a national mission. Labor understand that we must stand up and fight for the international strength of our defence industry because, if we don't, we will lose industry locally. That's an important point: we will lose industry locally. We want to see a thriving defence industry that gives all Australians a fair go and an opportunity to turn their production into overseas exports. We recognise that there is overseas demand, whether it be from OPVs or elsewhere, and we need to act now to secure a prosperous future for shipping yards like Williamstown. Even the good old Minister for Defence Industry has said that we need to reverse our figures and bring our exports up from 20th in the world. What is he actually doing about it? I will let the minister in on a little secret: just unveiling a defence export strategy doesn't make a difference. You actually have to do something about it. And, yet again, that's the part of his brainwave that this government is missing.

It's all well and good that the member for Fisher has moved this motion. He has been in here, praising the government's record investments in the ADF. But let's believe it when we see it. I certainly won't be holding my breath. It's time the government took real action and gave Australian businesses the opportunity to thrive. There is so much untapped potential in our small and medium enterprises, but if the government continues on this path these enterprises will be crippled. So I say to the government: get it together. Implement your so-called strategy. Until then, it's just a bunch of words on paper which certainly won't save our industry after suffering four years of failure and inaction by a government that is hopelessly divided and couldn't find its way out of a wet paper bag.

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