Alannah Mactiernan (Perth, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yesterday, the Minister for Defence said that everyone except the opposition was happy with the government's announcements on the naval rebuild. Members will recall that, when in Adelaide, the Prime Minister said that the offshore patrol vessels would be built there. The following day, in Melbourne, he said that they would start in Adelaide and they would then move to Melbourne.

Members, let me tell you there are very many unhappy vegemites over in the West. Let us start with the blue team's own senator, Linda Reynolds, who said she was disappointed underperforming states were being propped up at WA's expense. She said:

Major defence projects like the procurement of naval vessels must be awarded on merit and States should not rely on the projects as yet another form of economic subsidy.

Today, Deidre Willmott, the CEO of the WA CCI—not a known Labor person—said this:

As the sun sets on the Australian car industry, the fear is the Federal Government may be tempted to make an important defence decision based on the location of a legacy industry. This would be a mistake.

What WA wants is not a handout but an open process that will allow our world-class naval facilities at Henderson to be given the opportunity to compete without a preordained outcome. The people of Canning will want to know: are WA industry and WA workers are going to be given a fair go? (Time expired)