Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to comments made by Senator Edwards about Australian workers building our future submarines. He said, '5 o'clock Friday they were precluded; 9 o'clock Monday they were included.' Yet the finance minister has said, 'There is actually no change in policy.' Prime Minister, who is correct? When will the chaos and incompetence stop and when does this good government you promised actually start?

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The last part of the question is sounding remarkably like debate, but I call the honourable the Prime Minister.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As is absolutely crystal clear, there will be a competitive evaluation process, exactly the same kind of process that governments of both persuasions have put in place for all major defence procurement projects. There will be a competitive evaluation process and the Australian Submarine Corporation is welcome to be a part of it.

I am very happy to get questions from the Leader of the Opposition about this, because let's look at the record of the Labor Party. The Labor Party in government did not build HMAS Choules here in Australia. It went out and bought it from the Royal Navy. It did not build icebreakers in Australia; they are being built in Europe. It did not repair HMAS Success here in Australia. It sent it to Singapore to be double hulled. Immediately following the 2009 white paper, the Labor Party in government cut or deferred $16 billion from Australia's defence budget. Decisions made by members opposite when they were in government led to 119 defence projects being delayed, 43 defence projects being reduced and eight projects cancelled, risking critical capability gaps.

If members opposite were serious about submarines, why did they sit on their hands for six years? They sat on their hands for six years while the defence of Australia suffered. That is what they did. I want to make it absolutely crystal clear to the Australian people: the defence of this country is safe in the hands of this government.