Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr President. Those claims are myths, they are irresponsible, they are scaremongering and they are inaccurate. Any assertion that the supply ships contract will result in 3,000 or even 2,000 jobs is incorrect and inaccurate. Defence estimates that the jobs will be less than a fifth of that amount. No Australian shipyards currently have the capacity to build the replacement supply vessels, which are almost three times as large as the air warfare destroyers—three times as large.

Labor's own 2013 Future Submarine Industry Skills Plan states that Australian shipyards could not accommodate the build of the large supply vessels without significant infrastructure upgrades. Those upgrades actually had to have been completed by now to allow the replacement supply ships to be ready by 2021 and avoid a critical capability gap. Labor knew that. They said it in their 2013 white paper. (Time expired)