Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Smith for the question. This is a really historic announcement and a unique opportunity for jobs and skills right here in Australia. It will create an entirely new workforce sector, driving skills, training and employment opportunities which will benefit the national economy for generations. It's a whole-of-nation effort that will deliver nation-changing opportunities, including around 20,000 direct highly skilled and highly paid jobs, including as technicians, engineers, scientists and project managers. This means jobs right across Australia but also in the good Senator Smith's home state of South Australia and, indeed, Western Australia.

In South Australia, which I had the honour to visit last week, with Senator Wong, this project will mean up to 4,000 workers will be employed to design and build the infrastructure at the submarine construction yard in Osborne—at its peak. A further 4,000 to 5½ thousand direct jobs are expected to be created to build the nuclear powered submarines in South Australia when the program reaches its peak in 20 to 30 years—almost double the workforce that had been forecast for the Attack class program.

In Western Australia, the expansion of HMAS Stirling to support the infrastructure required for nuclear-powered submarines is expected to create around 3,000 direct jobs over the decade. An additional 500 direct jobs are expected to be created to sustain the Submarine Rotational Force—West, over the period 2027 to 2032.

We need to get moving on these investments, investing not just for our national security but in the future of defence and also the future of our economy and the skills and jobs that come with it. This is a big investment, and we've been upfront with the Australian people about the substantial pressures on the budget. Defence is one of the big five fastest-growing areas of spending, along with the NDIS, aged care, health care and the cost of servicing the trillion dollars of Liberal debt. (Time expired)

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Smith, a first supplementary?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Smith again for her advocacy—in particular, in relation to her state of South Australia. Last week, when I was visiting South Australia with ANI at Osborne, we announced the sovereign submarine partnership, which will be the architecture that is used to guide and set how these submarines will be built. This agreement will provide the opportunity to select the partners but also to maximise the opportunities for Australian businesses to participate in these new arrangements. This is complementary to our plans for A Future Made in Australia and the Buy Australian Plan, which is about leveraging the purchasing power of the Commonwealth to increase opportunities for Australian workers and businesses. We're estimating that $6 billion will be invested in Australian industry and workforce—a transformational investment which will remake Australia and accelerate growth in the same way that large projects like the Snowy did all those years ago.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Smith, a second supplementary?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, it will transform our economy for a new era. A whole generation of workers will be trained in the latest engineering, technology and building skills. There will be significant benefits across the nation, through increased economic activity and job creation, which will start immediately and grow over time as we develop a whole new industry and new supports for that industry.

It's all part of our economic plan to undertake investments to build the capability of our people and expand the productive capacity of our economy for a new era. I've already mentioned the Future Made in Australia plans and the Buy Australian Plan policy.

We also have the National Reconstruction Fund, obviously. It would be good to pass the legislation that supports that.

We've policies for fee-free TAFE, Jobs and Skills Australia and acting on climate change. All of these policies are designed to grow the economy, boost productivity and upskill Australians, and the AUKUS investment is another vital part of our economic plan going into the future.