John Madigan (Victoria, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the minister representing the Minister for Defence, the Attorney-General, Senator Brandis. Over recent months there has been a lot of speculation about our shipbuilding industry, and where and how many submarines will be built to replace our Collins class fleet. Andrew Bellamy of Austal was recently quoted as saying the problems with the AWD program lie in the workforce and that he fundamentally believed that skilled Australian labour building ships with the right infrastructure, management and incentives can be as productive as anywhere else in the world. Do you and the government agree with that statement?