David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the members for Rankin and Boothby and the other member for their comments and questions. In relation to the member for Boothby's question, she raised a very important issue. What she did highlight, with great specificity, was the sad failure of the previous government to support the building of even one naval vessel during six years in office. So after six years—it's a long time—there's not one ship. Those opposite stand condemned for their failure to invest in the Australian shipbuilding industry.

The member for Rankin held a very important and prestigious role as chief of staff to the then Treasurer. He did not use that lofty perch from where he sat to argue for the commissioning of a single naval vessel, and that's a failure. But, in contrast, I can explain to the member for Boothby that this government is very committed to the future of the naval shipbuilding industry in Australia. We have avoided the valley of death that those opposite so cruelly would have imposed on the naval shipbuilding industry, and we are investing very significantly in the shipbuilding industry in Australia.

So, in this budget, we provided an additional equity injection to Australian naval infrastructure to enable the development of the required infrastructure at the Osborne precinct in Adelaide—$535 million, a substantial sum towards the surface shipbuilding yard in Osborne. It will support the purchase of additional land at Osborne, and I'm sure that all members would support this very important investment. It's required for the Future Submarine construction yard, of course, and, thanks to this investment, the redevelopment of the Osborne yard is in full swing.

Only eight months after Australian Naval Infrastructure engaged Lendlease as the managing contractor for the redevelopment project, the development is progressing well. That's good news for the industry, and that's good news for South Australia. Let me go into that in a little bit more detail. It's estimated that this Osborne South redevelopment will create up to 600 jobs. Currently, there are about 100 construction staff working onsite—good news for Adelaide—and ANI advise that this will peak at up to 400 employees in 2019. That doesn't include all of the knock-on benefits to all of the related industries adjacent to the Osborne shipyard. The earthworks subcontractor, McMahon Services Australia, completed the site preparation works in April this year. The majority Indigenous-owned subcontractor Intract Australia formed a joint venture with McMahon to construct these early earthworks. We are seeing 100 per cent of the square-section structural steel for this project ordered from Australian steelmakers BlueScope, in Port Kembla, and Liberty OneSteel, in Whyalla. Again, it is all about supporting Australian industry and supporting Australian jobs and it is another reason why 2017 was the greatest year of job creation in Australian history, with some 415,000 jobs created in that year, a very strong record. This important naval shipbuilding program is a key part of that. In contrast, those opposite failed to build a single ship or, indeed, to even commission or contemplate the building of a single ship in that time.

I want to address the member's question in relation to equity financing. As he's pointed out, those opposite made use of these funding mechanisms for programs like the Moorebank intermodal, a very important project in Western Sydney, and the NBN. Each of these projects, in addition to all the projects that are accounted for in this way, is subject to a rigorous process through the Department of Finance. The principles in relation to equity accounting have been consistent over the years. That process hasn't changed. This process enables investment in important job-creating projects.

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