Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment) Share this | Hansard source

He can protest all he wants. He can complain all he wants, but the facts speak for themselves. Nothing was done in six years. No contracts were signed. No design was settled upon, and the budget was stripped bare.

We went to the last election with something the Labor Party did not have—an actual policy for defence. Senator Conroy and Senator Gallacher—if he is going to speak—are welcome to quote from Labor's defence policy if they like. But there was not one for the last election. It was blank—as blank as their actions in the preceding six years. Our policy made it very clear that we will make the decisions necessary to ensure that Australia has no submarine capability gap within 18 months of the election. That is exactly what we will do.

We will also ensure that the work on the replacement of the current submarine fleet will centre around the South Australian shipyards. That is exactly what we will do. We have made it clear that there will be more jobs in South Australia in future as a result of our government's commitment to follow through on delivering more submarines for the future.

Labor talked about more submarines for six years, and did absolutely nothing. By the time of the next election we will have settled on designs, we will have progressed under contracts, and we will be in a position where we can identify that there will be more jobs for South Australia. So, rather than the fear campaign that keeps being waged by those opposite—rather than wanting to scare people into believing that doom and gloom is around the corner—our comment is clear: there will be more jobs. There will be more jobs in South Australia. We will make the decisions that Labor failed to make for six years. We will budget to deliver on those decisions, although Labor stripped the budget bare.

We will make sure that we look after the interests of our defence force, the interests of Australian taxpayers, and that we deliver jobs for the future. Unlike those opposite, who have nothing to stand on, I promise you that by the time of the next election there will be clear evidence that South Australia's defence industry is secure in the future—far more than it was under those opposite.