Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

At the request of Senators Wong, Farrell, Marielle Smith and Gallagher, I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) it was the Hawke Labor Government's decision to build the Collins class submarines in Osborne in South Australia that gave life to the modern naval shipbuilding and submarine enterprises in Australia,

(ii) it was the Rudd Labor Government that first committed to building 12 Future Submarines in South Australia,

(iii) it was the Gillard Labor Government that initiated the significant reforms that underpin today's highly successful sustainment arrangements for the Collins class,

(iv) the ASC workforce in South Australia has been instrumental in maintaining Australia's vital submarine capability, and

(v) the Coalition government is reviewing the existing Full Cycle Docking arrangements;

(b) expresses concern that:

(i) the acquisition of the Future Submarines has been delayed by a decade, and with it the jobs promised to South Australian workers, while also creating the risk of a capability gap,

(ii) despite initial claims that 90 per cent of the build of the Future Submarines would occur in Australia, the Government will now only promise that 60 per cent of the cost of the build will be spent locally, and this will include ancillary services like hotels, travel agents, language training and security guards, and

(iii) Prime Minister Morrison and Minister Reynolds have failed to give South Australian workers the certainty they deserve, despite promising a decision would be made before the end of last year; and

(c) calls on the Government to:

(i) give an assurance to everyone working on full–cycle docking that their jobs are secure, because we will need every single one of those workers to ensure we have the skills and personnel in South Australia to construct the Future Submarines; and

(ii) deliver on the promise made by then Minister Pyne that the "people who work on Collins class full cycle docking sustainment and maintenance of the submarines at Osborne…will always have a job."