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

I will show you in a minute—a $335 million program driving jobs and growth, 21 of them to be provided to 12 different South Pacific nations, supporting our allies across the South Pacific as a country the size of Australia should, with 400 jobs in the Henderson Maritime Precinct. That is the beginning of a 54 vessel program across many decades, created by this government. The last ship that would ever have been built under the Labor Party, if Labor had been re-elected in 2013, was the one that we launched at Osborne two weeks ago, the last of the air warfare destroyers. The only ship they ever commissioned was the HMAS Choules, which they bought from Britain. They didn't invest one dollar in any vessel built in an Australian shipyard; we have 54. That Pacific patrol boat program, the Guardian class, isn't just creating jobs in Canning; it's also going to be creating jobs in the member for Leichhardt's electorate. That is where the deep maintenance will be done. That is worth $400 million over the life of the program, and $380 million of new infrastructure, in Cairns. We have a national project from Henderson to Cairns launched on Sunday at 3 am, driving jobs and growth. It would have only happened under this government. It is the beginning of a $90 billion naval shipbuilding program, and I table this very handsome photograph of the Pacific patrol boats. (Time expired)

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