Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Manufacturing) Share this | Hansard source

As the member for Batman said, it is deceitful, because the words were 'We will build them there.' It is part of their mantra and it will not wash with the people of South Australia. Even worse—and quite disgracefully—the minister has now embarked on a narrative of trashing the ASC in South Australia. First, he said it will cost $60 billion to $80 billion to build the submarines in South Australia—without ever giving any figures or discussing the matter with them—and then he talked about the disgraceful mess regarding the Air Warfare Destroyer program, knowing full well that most of the reasons for the cost blow-out were matters beyond the control of the ASC.

Yesterday, when he said, 'Do you wonder why I wouldn't trust them to build a canoe here?' he simply went too far. The comments are insulting, they are ignorant, they are ill informed and they offend the thousands of workers of that industry—workers, engineers and designers—who know that is simply not true. The problem is, he will not even commit to an open-tender process. If he were a fair minister on this issue why would he not commit to an open-tender process and allow everyone to put in their bids?

I will quickly go to another matter. Last year, the Prime Minister visited Japan in April. In June, the foreign minister, Julie Bishop, and the Defence minister went to Japan. In August, the Prime Minister of Japan visited Australia. Also in August a Japanese delegation visited the ASC facilities, in South Australia, for undisclosed purposes. It may be just coincidence, but it begs the question: what backroom deals were done by the Prime Minister to secure the Japan-Australia free trade agreement, and was the submarine contract part of those deals?

This is indeed a serious matter. It goes to the heart of Australia's national security. It commits Australia to tens of billions of dollars of government expenditure and it affects the jobs of thousands of Australians. Most importantly, it is critical to Australia's Defence manufacturing capability. Senator Johnston, not just through his comments yesterday but also through a series of actions since the election, has shown himself to be incompetent. He is now a lame-duck Defence minister.

The future of Australia's national security is far too important to be entrusted to a defenceless minister, and the Prime Minister should cut him adrift. That is what this motion seeks to do. I assure members opposite that I have had emails from people in South Australia who are as outraged about the minister's comments as we are on this side of the House. The Prime Minister should take note of what people are saying out there in the community.

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