Senate debates

Thursday, 20 August 2015

Questions without Notice: Take Note of Answers

Answers to Questions

3:20 pm

Photo of Sean EdwardsSean Edwards (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I can move on to shipbuilding, which was asked by Senator Conroy. I can also talk about their shrill note of indignation. I can talk about Senator Moore's contribution with regard to the NDIS, and we can talk about the vacuous nature in which they come to this chamber.

With the NDIS, they sat sneering when we won the election because they had no idea how they were going to implement the NDIS with their budget hurtling into massive deficit, annual deficits, and a record budget blow-out like this country had never seen. They had no idea how they were going to deliver it. They thought they had laid landmines for Minister Fifield for time immemorial. Unfortunately, over on this side we have some idea of how, in an industry or a health community, we deliver things on time and on budget. Even though when you ask your question you have no clue on the other side, Senator Fifield went along and constructed how he will deliver it on time and on budget.

Now I refer to the question from Senator Conroy. He was out there this morning on Adelaide radio with Leon Byner, selling his mistruths about what happened. It is absolutely empty, because he is dealing with a Defence Teaming Centre report, which is funded by the state Labor Party. Defence Teaming gets its funding from the South Australian Labor government. It also gets snatch-and-grab funding that is also provided by the South Australian Labor government. So why wouldn't it be in his interest for the representatives and the Defence Teaming Centre to come out and talk about what is not going to happen? It is not backed up by any facts. There is a nice glossy brochure with some nice visuals, I admit. It looks good.

The $39 billion project has been delivered to South Australia, and the Prime Minister has been down there talking to South Australians about this wonderful Defence project. Just remember that this is the first time ever in our nation's history that we have had a continuous shipbuilding program. This is, for the first time, a program that will deliver a renewal of the entire naval fleet. And yet they in Labor in South Australia seek to diminish this, and media outlets, for whatever reason, do not check the veracity of the claims of these people, who are a partisan organisation. Not for one moment do I believe that their motivation is to give people of South Australia the assurance that they deserve about a commitment.

The Prime Minister has been down there, as we know, in South Australia—my home state and your home state, Senator McEwen—reinforcing his commitment to the shipbuilders. And what do we have? We have this cynicism about what you can and cannot do. Get behind the workers down there at Osborne. Give them a chance. Give them a chance to prove themselves. Those people deserve every little bit. But all the time you are backgrounding and undermining every part of the process.

This competitive evaluation process which will roll out will be like the one that is going on with the submarines now. Its credibility is increasing day by day. The government should be very proud of it, and the people of South Australia should be very confident that the Prime Minister will back in this competitive evaluation process to a successful conclusion.

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