Andrew Southcott (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Defence investment and jobs are critical to South Australia. This year the Australian government will spend $1 billion on defence procurement and sustainment work, including building the Air Warfare Destroyers and sustaining the Collins class submarines at Osborne. We will spend $4.2 billion over the next four years in South Australia on 44 acquisition projects and 58 sustainment programs.

It is important to make a few points on the Future Submarine Project, which has attracted some interest lately. The Joint Committee on Public Accounts, which I chair, has this year delivered several reports on defence procurement. A strong theme which emerges is the importance of making well-informed decisions and the cost of poor decisions. Major projects undergo a rigorous two-pass approval of cabinet. The National Security Committee of the Cabinet need to consider all available options and assess them on the basis of risk in terms of cost, schedule and capability. At this stage we need to trust the Navy and the DMO to come up with the best option for our future submarine needs. Our goal must be to get the best submarine we can for a reasonable price and in a way which boosts investment and jobs in South Australia. None of this is mutually exclusive. I remain confident that there will be significant investment and jobs for South Australia at the world-class ASC site at Osborne.