John Madigan (Victoria, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I fully support an Australian build for our future submarines. I believe, however, a vote on this amendment to the Omnibus Repeal Day (Spring 2014) Bill will have no consequence as it stands, as the government will not pass this bill in the lower half. How about I suggest something novel here? How about practising statesmanship for once? How about putting Australia's jobs, our national interest and our security first for once? We are becoming the laughing stock of the world when we speak about our future submarine build. We require certain characteristics in our submarines that the Soryu class submarine does not have. There are many questions in this whole debate that require us to be states men and women and to have a deeper understanding of what we are talking about. How about putting people before politics? How about stopping the point scoring?

Australia's strategic interests are directly linked to being able to project our forces away from our shores. How about the fact that our submarines need to operate in the northern and southern hemispheres? How about the fact that there are different rates of corrosion in the ocean between the northern and southern hemispheres? There are all the technical areas that are in this. How about looking at how we compare the quotes that are given to us? And how about government and the unions all working collaboratively for the benefit of Australia? This is such an important issue that people should put aside their politics and work in Australia's national interest.