Rex Patrick (SA, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Defence Industry, Senator Payne, and relates to ASC's role in the naval shipbuilding program. The government has offshored two supply ships to Spanish shipyards. It has offshored one icebreaker to a Romanian shipyard. It has prohibited ASC from tendering in the Future Frigate program. I have a letter here from Minister Payne to Naval Group suggesting that they didn't need to engage ASC in the Future Submarine build. You can see that it is no wonder ASC are laying off South Australian workers, because they have no work on their order book other than the OPV. Can the minister please tell the chamber what role ASC will have in the build of the Future Submarine, or is the government engaging in a deliberate ASC euthanasia?

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

I thank Senator Patrick for his question, which echoes, or shadows perhaps, some of the matters raised by Senator Carr in his earlier question. Senator Patrick raised the location of the build of the two supply ships in his question and related that to his remarks around the offshore patrol vessels, as I understood that question. Just in relation to that matter, it is a matter of record that for the supply ships to have been built in Australia and to still allow for the build of the offshore patrol vessels and the Future Frigates—and it will come as no surprise to anyone who has been following this—that order would have to have been placed by the previous government to ensure that the shipyards were able to take the supply ship build plus the OPV build plus the Future Frigate build. As Senator Patrick is painfully aware, no orders for any ships were placed by the previous government—not one single naval ship in this country. So, in that regard, the government did prioritise the development of the offshore patrol vessels and the development of the Future Frigates. And to ensure that we did not have a capability gap in terms of the supply ships, we are procuring those through the processes to which Senator Patrick has referred.

Senator Patrick also asked about the ASC and its status from the government's perspective. I said in response to Senator Carr that, of course, the first two of the offshore patrol vessels will be built at Osborne by ASC Shipbuilding—and that is also a matter of record. As Senator Patrick also notes, the next generation of frigates, the Hunter class frigates, will be built by ASC Shipbuilding at the Osborne naval shipyard. This is a $35 billion program. It will create 4,000 jobs right around the country and create unprecedented opportunities for businesses large and small.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Patrick, a supplementary question.

Rex Patrick (SA, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, earlier this year, I revealed the closely held secret that the Navy is planning to shift submarine full-cycle dockings to Western Australia. I don't assert that that is the government's position; it's the Navy's position. The government has said that no decision has been made on this. Noting that it has also been revealed that we will have the Future Submarines in both Western Australia and on the east coast, will the minister explicitly rule out shifting full-cycle dockings to Western Australia?

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

The Minister for Defence advises me—although I note that Senator Patrick asked me in relation to my representation of the Minister for Defence Industry—that there are no plans to move full-cycle docking. The Osborne north facility will continue to support Collins class sustainment for some time to come. Planning will be required to ensure that this activity can continue without detriment while the submarine infrastructure construction is underway. By the mid 2020s—and it is very important to note this—there will be submarines in full production at Osborne, employing 2,800 people directly, and frigates in full production at Osborne, employing around 1,500 people directly. So it is completely reasonable for the Department of Defence—Navy in this case that Senator Patrick has referred to—to make contingency plans and review those in terms of managing full cycle docking, which employs around 700 maintenance workers. That is very important work and needs to be managed accordingly.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Patrick, a final supplementary question.

Rex Patrick (SA, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, I have FOI documents that have Defence email addresses on them that reveal that there are more ASC redundancies. Unfortunately the numbers are redacted, so we can't see what they are. Why won't the government level with workers at ASC and simply let them know what the future workforce plan is for these workers at ASC?

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

As Senator Patrick well knows, staffing decisions are a matter for the ASC board and management. As I have said very clearly to this chamber on multiple occasions, job losses at ASC and elsewhere in the shipbuilding industry—which are regrettable, and I placed on record in the chamber earlier today that it is the case in any industry, in any organisation—are not a result of this government's policies; they are the direct result of an abrogation of responsibility by the previous government in not commissioning a single naval vessel in this country in their entire term of government. So, while continuous naval shipbuilding will create thousands of jobs—and I've outlined those numbers—for decades to come, there is a period of transition as our current shipbuilding workforce redeploys to new opportunities being created across our defence industrial base. That defence industrial base is at its strongest in Adelaide and Perth. (Time expired)