Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Attorney-General, representing the Minister for Defence. In the last 24 hours, another 140-plus job losses have been announced in the naval shipbuilding sector: 128 at BAE Systems in Williamstown, in Victoria, and another 26 at ASC in Adelaide. This brings a total of over 1,200 jobs lost in Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales, at Forgacs, and many hundreds more job losses are predicted in the coming 12 months. Naval shipbuilders have said repeatedly that excluding Australian naval shipbuilders from the $2 billion naval supply ship tender is damaging. In light of this, will the government reopen or reconsider the tender that is currently limited to South Korea and Spain and allow Australian companies to compete?