House debates

Monday, 7 November 2022

Statements by Members

Defence Facilities

1:42 pm

Photo of Andrew HastieAndrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | | Hansard source

Today I call on the Albanese government to commit to building the large vessel dry dock in Henderson, Western Australia—a vital piece of infrastructure that will service the Navy and coalition ships over the coming decade and beyond.

It's now a bipartisan view that Australia's strategic circumstances are growing more dangerous. The Indo-Pacific is now a contested region. Therefore, we welcome the Prime Minister's comments in the Weekend Australian, where he committed to spending whatever was necessary to build our defence capability:

"We will do what is necessary to achieve it"—

the Prime Minister said.

"This is not optional, it's necessary."

So, will the Prime Minister and his government commit to building the dry dock in Western Australia? In March this year, the then coalition government announced a $4.3 billion investment set to create over 2,000 local jobs, sending a signal to the west that WA will be a shipbuilding powerhouse. We only have one dry dock in Sydney, built during the Second World War, but it needs an upgrade and also a partner dock on the west coast.

Last month, Defence confirmed to the West Australian newspaper the dry dock would go ahead; however, they wouldn't say whether the Albanese government would commit to the full investment. What's more concerning is that there was not a single mention of the dry dock in Labor's first budget. So again: will the Albanese government commit to building the large vessel dry dock in WA? The clock is ticking, defence industry is waiting and we need clarity on this vital piece of infrastructure.