Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Defence Industry. Will the minister explain why it is important to have a stable and secure energy supply if we are to maximise the benefits of defence industry boom occurring in Australia as a result of this government's policies?

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

I thank the member for Forrest for her question. I can tell her that the government's approach to defence and defence industry is certainly bearing the fruit that we had hoped for in terms of creating jobs here in Australia but also creating the most lethal and capable defence force in Australia's history. Members will remember that the Turnbull government announced a $195 billion build-up of our defence capability over the next 0 years. That will not only give us the most capable and lethal defence force in Australia's history, but we are also committed to using the heft of that almost $200 billion investment to grow high-tech advanced manufacturing, high-value jobs here in the Australian manufacturing sector.

It is certainly bearing fruit. Northrop Grumman, for example, have announced a doubling of their workforce from 500 to 1,000 workers in Australia. DCNS, the submarine designer and builder, has already opened its office, employing 50 people in the last two months. That will grow to 2,900 people by the early 2020s. BAE is taking on 200 extra engineers over the next couple of years and 100 extra support staff. That is even before the announcements of significant tenders over the next 12 months, which BAE may well win or not win, which may require them to expand their defence force even further. The ASC, the Australian Submarine Corporation, has doubled its graduate intake in anticipation of the increased work that will be flowing because of the government's continuous naval ship build. This is on the back of six years of absolute inaction by the Labor Party when they were in office, in comparison to the 54 vessels that we have committed to in the short period of the coalition government.

The second part of that question asked me about the risks to this massive expansion. The supply of energy and the cost of electricity are a very significant risks in expanding our manufacturing base. We have already seen that the Department of Defence will have to build a $20 million diesel power generator at Osborne to look after the shipyard and the submarine yard—$20 million of taxpayers' money because the state government cannot keep the power on in South Australia. So we are already seeing the outcome of Labor's ideological approach rather than our all-of-the-above approach. Recently, Paul O'Malley from BlueScope Steel and Andrew Mackenzie from BHP Billiton both specifically warned that the expansion of steel production and the expansion of Olympic Dam are at risk because of a failure to provide stable and cheap power. This is a result of Labor's ideological obsession with renewable energy. (Time expired)