David Johnston (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the senator for what is a very, very important and crucial question for Australia's future strategic defence capacity. Submarines are our most significant and important strategic deterrent. Since the Labor Party gave us the Collins class submarine on the basis that it would be very cheap to maintain and very reliable, we have done nothing more than spend $1 billion a year for one or two submarines being available every year. The point about this is that we do not want to make the same mistakes that the Labor Party has bequeathed to us with submarines.

Submarines are, as I said, extremely important to us and a vital strategic deterrent. For a country like Australia, where a very large percentage of our economic exports are on the water—which must go through three choke points—sea denial is essential. Submarines are absolutely fundamental to our defence capability. We have said, firstly—and these are our promises—that there will be no capability gap between the transition out of the very troubled Collins class—