Dan Repacholi (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Defence Industry. Why is a strong manufacturing industry critical for Australia's national security? How is the Albanese Labor government supporting the defence industry? And why is this important, after a decade of neglect?

Pat Conroy (Shortland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Hunter, my neighbour and close friend. We face the most challenging strategic environment since World War II, and our sovereign manufacturing industry is critical to our national security. The COVID pandemic and its impact on the supply chains, and the war in Ukraine, have again demonstrated the need for manufacturing sovereignty. We must be a country that makes things. We need to build our key defence capabilities here and we must be able to sustain and upgrade our platforms.

That's why the Albanese Labor government is committed to supporting Aussie manufacturing, especially in the defence industry. That's why we'll establish a new defence industry policy, informed by the Defence Strategic Review and supported by the Australian strategic research agency. This defence industry policy will be complemented by the National Reconstruction Fund, which will support and help grow defence manufacturing. I'm proud that defence is one of the NRF priority areas under the Minister for Industry and Science. And that's why I can't understand why the opposition is opposed to the NRF. The coalition's opposition to the National Reconstruction Fund demonstrates that they are opposed to Aussie manufacturing. It also demonstrates that they aren't serious about supporting defence industry and, through it, our national security.

I'm asked about a decade of neglect. This neglect started with the very first decision the last government made about defence industry, and that was to send a $1 billion contract to Spain to build the very large Navy supply ships. They sent supply ships offshore. We built the Air Warfare Destroyers here. They killed the car industry. We saved Bendigo through the Hawkei mobility vehicle. They wanted to build submarines in Japan. We will build our nuclear powered submarines in Adelaide. They had 12 defence and defence industry ministers. This neglect was not just bad for defence industry; it led to 28 major defence projects running cumulatively 97 years late. We also heard yesterday that they spent $114 million to place only 200 workers in naval shipbuilding jobs—200 workers. That equates to over half a million dollars per worker placement. The coalition, through its opposition to the National Reconstruction Fund, is opposed to Aussie manufacturing and is weakening our defence industry, which is so critical to our national security.

By contrast, the Albanese government is backing Aussie manufacturing, not just because it delivers high-skill, high-wage jobs but because it's vital to our national defence. I say to the opposition: if you really care about a sovereign defence industry, it's time to get behind the National Reconstruction Fund.