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

I thank Senator Gallacher for his question. The government expects defence industry doing business with Australia to meet their commitments to manage their costs and to deliver projects on time and according to our specifications. That will not be done at the expense of Australian jobs and Australian industry. In the case of the attack-class submarine, we expect that Naval Group's commitment to spend a minimum 60 per cent of their contract value in Australia will be finalised as a matter of priority.

As we come out of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has never been more important for the government to back in Australian industry, and that is what we are going to do. We have been very clear that we will not agree to provisions in the strategic partnering agreement that are not meaningful and measurable over the long duration of the program or that dilute the protections we currently have. The government is a strong client and will maintain a fit-for-purpose agreement for decades to come. I'm advised that Defence and Naval Group have made progress on the agreement, with details being worked through to finalise the amendments to the strategic partnering agreement.