Mark Butler (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

For months now, this government has sat on its hands while 700 workers—so 700 families, as well as nearly 800 businesses and their employees—have spent the entirety of summer not knowing whether their jobs are safe. This government is still considering shifting the full-cycle docking work on Australia's submarine fleet—work that has been performed in Adelaide at Osborne for decades. Now, in March, the Morrison government is still showing utter contempt for the submarine workers in my electorate of Hindmarsh. Nearly every week for months, these workers have opened the morning news and read that their fate is to be decided within weeks, leaving them in a cruel limbo.

Two weeks ago, I met with workers down at Osborne. They're furious. They are highly skilled workers who've been doing this work for decades. They should be rewarded for the work that they're doing, not used as a political football. The Minister for Defence Industry has glibly proposed a split between South Australia and Western Australia, as if that is a win-win. That is not a win. That is still hundreds of workers and their families who lose—hundreds of workers, who have dedicated their lives to this country's national security, being told that the loss of their jobs is somehow a win. The contempt displayed towards these hardworking South Australians is simply beyond belief.

The Morrison government has shown the workers of South Australia nothing but contempt in return for their dedication and their skills. Steven Marshall, the Premier, Simon Birmingham, the senior cabinet member in the federal government, and the South Australian Liberals have been missing in action. They should join us in taking up the fight to Scott Morrison; otherwise, it will cost South Australia dearly. Removing or splitting submarine work from Osborne would not just devastate the workers and their families; it would affect almost 800 businesses and cost up to $400 million to South Australia's economy.

But this Liberal government has form in betraying the people of South Australia. They told the car industry to leave, costing 24,000 South Australian jobs, with many workers now in work for lower pay, for fewer hours and in worse conditions—if they have a job at all. This government betrayed shipbuilders in Osborne when they had no plan, not a single thought in place, once the Air Warfare Destroyer program had concluded, costing 577 workers their livelihood so far. They sent the supply ship contract to Spain, not even getting local Australian shipyards the opportunity to bid for it. Now they're toying with the lives of the full-cycle docking workers down at Osborne. The answer to this is clear: keep the work where it is, where it has been done with skill and dedication, where the workforce is, where the expertise is. Keep the work in Osborne.