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

I was hoping Senator Bernardi had a question for Senator Ryan, but I will take it anyway. Mr President, I can indicate to the Senate that the Turnbull government will release a naval shipbuilding plan this year to complement and to support the commitments we have made in our 2016 Defence white paper. This will be the delivery of a long-term plan to ensure the retention of a sovereign Australian naval shipbuilding industry and the jobs that go with that.

It will require the cooperation of government, industry, educational institutions and skilled workers, and it will be a process of both reform and development. As Chris Burns from the Defence Teaming Centre said today—and I agree—a long-term naval shipbuilding plan allows industry to invest in innovation early, to evolve designs progressively, to ensure their best capabilities are available and, as a result, to become globally competitive and enter the export market.

The plan is important because it will help to ensure that we have the best capability for our Defence Force and that we maintain our sovereign manufacturing and technology capabilities. It will help to ensure and provide certainty for industry and the skills and innovation that come with that. It will help South Australia—Senator Bernardi's own state—to become a focus of naval shipbuilding in Australia as a result of the development of that plan.

I know that there are some members of the opposition who have been running around this week spreading all sorts of myths—and I will call them myths as a courtesy—about naval shipbuilding plans. So let me make our current commitments quite clear. The Turnbull government will construct Australia's fleet of nine future frigates in Adelaide. We will construct Australia's fleet of 12 offshore patrol vessels in Australia. We are undergoing a competitive evaluation process for future submarines. We are in a tender process for Pacific patrol boats, and our commitments to build our future naval service fleet in Australia are absolutely in stark contrast to those opposite. (Time expired)