Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Employment (Senator Abetz) to a question without notice asked by Senator Conroy today relating to the manufacture of the next fleet of Australian submarines.

Today Labor has extended the hand of bipartisanship to the government on submarines. As we all know, this decision will transcend governments and generations. It is one of the most important defence capability decisions that our country will ever make. Prior to the 2013 election, there was bipartisan support for the future of the submarine project—genuine bipartisan support. That promise was to build our future submarines in Australia. But, since coming to government, the Prime Minister has been crab-walking away from that promise. It is an open secret. Even Senator Edwards must know by now that the Prime Minister, Mr Abbott, has a handshake deal with Japan to build our new submarines. It is also clear that, to save his own job, he traded submarines for votes in the Liberal party room. To win those votes, the government has announced a sham competitive evaluation process. But be in no doubt, Senator Edwards and those opposite: this process is being retrofitted to still deliver the Prime Minister his captain's pick for having the submarines built in Japan.

The dysfunction and chaos within the Liberal Party is infecting the submarine decision. Senator Abetz may not be in the NSC—I am not sure—but if he was in the NSC, he was one of the ministers who sat there when they went around the table last October with officials and ministers—and I hope Senator Edwards is listening—and said 'yes' or 'no', 'deal with Japan', 'no tender', 'build in Japan', and 'we announce it with Prime Minister Abe in November at G20'. So, Senator Abetz, if you were a member of the NSC, you know that is the truth. And I accept that if you were not, you may not have been privy to it, because they did not want to bring it to cabinet. But they drew up the press releases in the Department of Defence. They drew them up for an announcement in November of this year. So poor Senator Edwards was sitting there last year being treated like a mushroom by his own frontbench, by his own ministers on the NSC. He was treated like a mushroom, just like every other person in South Australia.

That is why we offer the opportunity today; we reach out and we say that we have outlined a fair and proper process to deliver the best submarine for Australia at the most effective price for taxpayers. The key criterion is to ensure that future submarines are built in Australia. This is a return to the bipartisanship that we saw before the elections.

We are not the only political party offering such a deal. The conservative British Prime Minister David Cameron recognises how important it is for the United Kingdom to build and maintain its own warships. Under Labor's process we would include France, Germany, Japan and Sweden in the competitive tender. We would ensure that the final bids guarantee submarine performance and Australian ownership of all intellectual property.

This is the test for new today: in your five-minute contribution, Senator Edwards, will you make a commitment that the next generation of submarines is built, maintained and sustained in Australia? All you are being asked to do today is to be bipartisan. Build them, maintain them and sustained them here in Australia or are you going to cave-in to the captain's pick again—(Time expired)