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

We are engaging a number of countries with respect to recovering this program that has had nothing done on it for six years. That is because the previous government simply shut the file and did absolutely nothing. We have been confronting a capability gap, so we are using our best endeavours to work out what will benefit the Royal Australian Navy's capability into the future.

The reason we are able to do this is that there is not even a contract. There is not even an obligation or a commitment from the former government over five or six years to do anything with respect to submarines. You have left us in a position where we are confronting a capability gap such that we must as a first priority address that scheduling issue. Indeed, many on your side know that.