Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for the Centenary of ANZAC) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Acting Deputy President. That is a very wise ruling. I know that Senator Birmingham, coming from South Australia, is personally embarrassed by the lack of action on jobs by this government. I have referred to a number of examples of it, but let us talk about the shipbuilding industry; let us talk about its importance to South Australia, and perhaps let us talk about what those South Australian senators on the other side have been doing to try to ensure that shipbuilding continues in South Australia.

We all know the history of the Collins class submarines. They are terrific submarines. They were under criticism by the current Defence minister for a long time. I understand he has now come to his senses on this subject and does appreciate what a terrific submarine the Collins class is and just how important it is to Australia's defence. That began this process of constructing defence maritime ships in this country—and, of course, we want to continue that. As you would know, Mr Acting Deputy President, the Australian Submarine Corporation are responsible for this at the moment. They are currently in the process of building some air warfare destroyers.

I have had the privilege on two or three occasions of going down to Techport and seeing some of these constructions. Those people who have done that—I do not know if any of the Tasmanian senators have had the opportunity to go down there—will know it is fascinating to see the way they construct these air warfare destroyers. They construct them upside down. They build them and do all the work they need to do on the ship while it is upside down, and then, at a certain point, when that construction is completed, they turn it up the correct way and add it to the rest of the ship. Just recently we had the laying-of-the-hull ceremony down at Techport. Unfortunately I was not able to attend, but it was a terrific event.