Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for Bass for his question. At the outset I acknowledge his long and vast experience in defence, both on the military side and on the corporate or civilian side of defence, and the expertise that he therefore brings to this place in relation to matters of defence.

It is true, as he said, that on 5 March this year I announced that the government would seek tenders for the replacement of the Pacific Patrol boat fleet. This is for the provision of up to 21 steel-hulled vessels which we would provide to Pacific nations in our region. That is worth something like $600 million to industry. When you add to that the personnel and life sustainment costs, that is about another $1.4 billion over 30 years. So this is a fully-funded $2 billion program for our neighbours. To date, all the countries that we have made the offer to, with the exception of Timor-Leste, have taken up and accepted the offer, and that is going to be very significant so far as those countries are concerned.

This program is in addition to what is contained in the current Pacific Patrol Boat Program because we are seeking to not only sustain these boats throughout their life—so that gives a great deal of assurance to the countries concerned that they will not only get the patrol boats but also they will have workable patrol boats for probably the next three decades—but also, as part of this program, to build in an aerial maritime surveillance component to it.

The great advantage for the countries concerned, such as Papua New Guinea, for example, to our immediate north, is that one of the concerns that they have is in relation to their own economic zone and the poaching of fish—for example, from the waters around Papua New Guinea. If you can add to the patrol boats an element of aerial surveillance, that can have a very lasting impact in terms of being able to protect their own waters against poaching. It is for that reason that I think there is a great deal of interest among the Pacific nations for this replacement program to the one that exists at present. This is not just simply providing them with a boat. It is providing them, hopefully, with the means by which they can determine whether or not there is poaching within their areas. That is added to by the fact that that then has a strategic value as well, because if we can join up this maritime aerial surveillance program then it means not just for one nation in particular in the South Pacific but for a number of nations in the South Pacific, whether it is Fiji, Tonga, Papua New Guinea or Timor-Leste, if they come on board—whatever nation takes up this offer—then there is the opportunity to have a surveillance across the area. That will lead, we hope, to greater regional cooperation between the nations in that region. As I said at a South Pacific defence ministers conference in Port Moresby some weeks ago, this is a major contribution both in terms of interest and in terms of practical assistance to nations in the South Pacific towards their defence and their economic wellbeing.

We have brought forward the Pacific Patrol Boat Program as much as possible and a final decision is expected in late 2016, following an expedited but thorough tender process—it is certainly faster than historical standards—as part of our endeavour to rebuild a naval shipbuilding industry in Australia. I will not go into all the detail now, but the reality is that, as there have not been decisions to purchase a naval vessel in Australia for some years now, that has led to a situation where current projects are coming to an end. There is a so-called valley of death as a result of that and, therefore, there are problems there. We want to put in place a continuous naval shipbuilding industry in Australia. This, in many respects, is the first step towards being able to do that.

So far as Tasmania is concerned, I am pleased to hear that shipbuilders in Tasmania, amongst those that the honourable member mentioned, are very interested in this project. These are vessels that could be constructed in many places in Australia. We are not talking about a submarine or an air warfare destroyer; we are talking about more straightforward craft in that regard. I would say to the honourable member that he should encourage his local industries to be part of this tender process because it may well lead to very positive outcomes for Tasmania.

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