Rex Patrick (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Defence. The 2009 Defence white paper foreshadowed increased tension in the region, and announced the need to increase our submarine force from six submarines to 12. The RAN was supposed to have 12 new submarines by 2039. Now that the smoke has dissipated, now that the mirrors have been removed, it is clear that, under the new plan, in 2039 we will instead have only five ageing Collins class submarines. In October last year, the then DFAT secretary, Her Excellency Frances Adamson, advised that the China-Taiwan situation concerned her more than at any time in the last 3½ decades of her career. Why has the government left us so vulnerable, with so few submarines, under these circumstances?