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

I can firstly say, thank you for that question. I acknowledge and respect your interest in this subject as a senator coming from South Australia, where we do most of our submarine sustainment. Bear in mind that for almost 20 years we have not built a submarine but we do all of our sustainment there. I can assure you that the process of first and second pass, with respect to the program, will be adhered to. I can also assure you that everything this government does on such an important acquisition will be completely transparent. Bear in mind, through you, Mr President, that, when we talk about sovereign submarine capability, we are talking about things that are national-security sensitive. Any government of any colour is quite restricted in what it can say about the capability, but in terms of cost, process, acquisition process, I will be as transparent as I possibly can be as we go through building up from a very low base of activity to a process where we have a way forward, which should have been done many years ago. Bear in mind some of the considerations in the process are that the Collins class submarine, after 2025, becomes extremely expensive to sustain and maintain. That is the legacy—