James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support this motion on defence industry and to commend previous speakers. In particular I say to congratulations to the valiant members of the Labor Party that had to fill up the speaking list on the other side and talk positively about defence industry, which would have been tough for them! The whip is obviously owed a big favour from those opposite that had to speak to this motion given their record when it comes to defence industry in this country, particularly in my home state of South Australia. It's the home of shipbuilding, where under six years of Labor, the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd era, an era that will live in infamy, not a single capital ship was commissioned for the Navy. In six years of Labor, not a single capital ship was commissioned for the Royal Australian Navy. Thankfully, that was some time ago, but the effect of that indecision is still plaguing us today. Nonetheless, hopefully there's no prospect of a Labor government any time in the near future either and so our government can get on with our commitment to defence industry and defence capabilities through the $270 billion we are spending on capability acquisition and sustainment through the 2020s, through that 10-year period.

As a member from Adelaide, I'm particularly proud of the decisions and the investments we're making in acquiring submarines and frigates for the Royal Australian Navy. The 12 attack class submarines are to be built at Osborne north shipyard and the nine frigates based on the type 26 BAE design, the Hunter class, are to be built at the Osborne south yard. The shipyard alone is an amazing engineering marvel. My good friend the member for Wentworth would agree with me, no doubt, that we have the most advanced shipyard certainly in the Southern Hemisphere and, by some measures, on the planet. It's a great thrill and pleasure any time you're out there with people from BAE who have come over from the Govan shipyards in Glasgow where they're building the type 26 for the Royal Navy and to see the salivation about the unbelievable shipyard that we have constructed through Australian naval innovation out there at Osborne south already and Osborne north for the submarine. It's something that is state of the art and is going to see us have a continuous naval shipbuilding capability and sovereign capability into the future, well beyond the attack or Hunter class programs and well beyond the lifetime of anyone in this chamber, because this is a government that is not only making decisions in the national security interests of our country but also ensuring we are achieving the industry outcome, the jobs outcome and the sovereign capability outcome.

This is critically important because the history of the armed forces in this country, particularly on the naval side, has been of having excellent capability that's been acquired from somewhere else. When it comes to submarines, we're ensuring that we will have a sovereign capability to build submarines into the future. So not only are we building the 12 attack class submarines here with our partners, the French, but at the end of that program we will have a sovereign capability in this country to build our own submarines, from our own design and to our own specifications into the future.

Mr Gosling interjecting—

It's a $90 billion shipbuilding program that's been centred in Adelaide—the 12 submarines and the nine frigates. It is going to transform the capability of the Royal Australian Navy at a time when they desperately need an increase in their capability and their capacity to do the fantastic job that they do. The complexity of the Navy's challenge in our region is higher than it's ever been and unfortunately, into the future, that is only going to increase and become more complex. Having 12 regionally superior submarines built in Australia, built in Adelaide, is going to transform the capability of the Royal Australian Navy. We'll be doubling the submarine capability for the Royal Australian Navy as the attack class is delivered. Again, the Hunter class will completely complement that submarine capability. They're called 'Hunter' because they hunt submarines. Nine frigates will, again, be built in my home city of Adelaide to transition into the Royal Australian Navy to ultimately replace the Anzac class and other capabilities joined with the air warfare destroyers that were also built in Adelaide at the Osborne shipyard to give our Navy the capability they need to continue doing the fantastic job they already do in serving our nation and protecting our interests both domestically and abroad. Not only that but we are making sure that we are anticipating and equipping the Royal Australian Navy and our armed forces for the challenges well into the future.

Defence industry is now happening here, sovereignly, in Australia. It's thanks to the decisions of the Morrison government. I'm so proud that my home state of South Australia will be such an enormous part of this $270 billion investment over the next 10 years. (Time expired)

See this speech in context