Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Patrick for his question. As we indicated in the defence white paper and as we set out in the Integrated Investment Program, we made a very careful assessment through a force structure review process and the preparation of the defence white paper of the capability that needed to be acquired to ensure the Australian Defence Force is equipped to do the job we ask them to do. In naval capability there was a significant challenge, as Senator Patrick will be aware, because no work had been done on that. Not one single order had been placed and not one single vessel had been commissioned for the entire term of the previous Labor government. So we had a very significant task ahead of us.

In terms of the acquisition of the Future Submarine, all of the decision-making in that process—through the competitive evaluation process and through the analysis done by defence and by government—was based on the capability that Australia needs to deliver a regionally superior submarine that will respond to the threats that we see in our region in the coming decades, all of which are set out in the defence white paper.