David Johnston (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

asked the Minister representing the Minister for Defence, upon notice, on 29 April 2011:

(1)   What is the current build schedule to ensure that the first of the Collins Class replacement submarines is fully operational by 2025.

(2)   What is the current delivery schedule for the remaining 11 submarines as defined in the Defence White Paper 2009.

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Minister for Defence has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

(1)   Current planning is based on 2nd Pass in late 2016. The exact schedule will depend on the capability required and the solution chosen. The phasing out of the Collins Class and the introduction of the future submarines will be managed to avoid any capability gap.

(2)    The delivery schedule for the remaining submarines will be developed to minimise transition issues from the Collins Class and to take account of Industry capacity and Navy's ability to generate crews for the new submarines.