Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Defence Industry. What opportunities will there be for defence industry and the Australian workforce under the AUKUS agreement?

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

I thank the member for Boothby for her passionate advocacy for South Australian jobs. The truth is that AUKUS pillar 1, the submarine policy, delivers two things for the Australian nation. One is the greatest capability enhancement to the Royal Australian Navy that this country has ever seen. The second one is the development of a fourth shipyard across the United States, Australia and United Kingdom, capable of building nuclear powered submarines. That is a critical part of this entire approach. There must be a fourth shipyard capable of building nuclear powered submarines.

This is the greatest industrial undertaking this country has ever attempted. We will be developing some of the most advanced manufacturing in the world. As the Treasurer said, as a byproduct we will be creating 20,000 jobs—20,000 well-paid, secure jobs, including 8½ thousand jobs building and sustaining the submarines themselves. Within that, four to 5½ thousand jobs building the submarines at the Adelaide shipyard, twice the amount that would have been building the Attack Class previously. This jobs figure doesn't even include the supply chain jobs that will inevitably come as well. My message to the Australian people and Australian industry is: this work starts right now. $6 billion has been allocated over the next four years to invest in the industry and workforce for the infrastructure upgrades, for skills development apprenticeships, including a skills academy in Adelaide, training hundreds of apprentices each and every year, and capacity-building of suppliers so that our Aussie companies can get a good shot of the work, not just for Australia but for the United States and the United Kingdom.

Work on the submarine construction yard starts right now. Training starts right now, and hundreds of Australian workers will be going overseas to work in UK and US shipyards developing skills and experience that will make a great contribution for our project. There are also opportunities in the supply chain. It's not a well-known fact that Pacific Marine Batteries, from the member for Hindmarsh's electorate, already supply batteries to the Astute class, and Thales at Rydalmere in Sydney provide sonar components. So Australian companies are already providing components, and, when we have a fleet of over 17 submarines, there will be great opportunities. Thirty billion dollars will be allocated over the life of the project to invest in skills and industry uplift in Australia, because the truth is this is the greatest industrial undertaking this country has made. It will modernise Australian manufacturing. It will lift up industry and employ 20,000 Australians in cutting-edge jobs that will provide a future for them and help safeguard the nation.