Pat Conroy (Shortland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you. This is how sensitive they are about their actual record on national security. This is why it's laughable for them to attack Labor when they have presided over the Hunter class frigate program that has blown out by two years. The budget has blown out from $30 billion to $45 billion. The project is 2,000 tonnes overweight, the ships will be slower than the rest of the fleet, the ships will have a shorter range and the ships will be very noisy, which is a problem for a submarine hunter. Most remarkably, the frigate captains will have to choose between using the radar or sailing at full speed, a problem when you're trying to avoid a missile attack.

This is the truth about this government on national defence. They will drape themselves in the flag, but when it comes to delivering for the ADF and delivering for taxpayers, they go hiding, they go missing. They use the ADF as a political prop time and again, but when it comes to delivering for the ADF, they go missing. Look at the $3.7 billion of MRH-90 helicopters cancelled because they can't deliver a project. The Attack class submarines were cancelled, wasting $4 billion. The truth is that this government cannot deliver for this nation and cannot deliver for national security. They are simply incompetent.

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