Babcock Australia

The Hon. M.L.J. HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Minister for Investment and Trade, Minister for Small Business, Minister for Defence Industries, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (14:13): I seek leave to make ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. M.L.J. HAMILTON-SMITH: I rise to inform the house of outcomes and opportunities arising from a recent visit to Britain and France. The house will already know that while in London I concluded an agreement with the international engineering support services company, Babcock. The result is that Babcock is bringing its Australasian headquarters to Adelaide. Investment Attraction South Australia has played an important role in this. For us, it is a $2.5 million investment in return for an immediate injection of jobs and benefit to South Australia of $100 million. I spoke to their national management conference this morning here in Adelaide. For Babcock, it is a step towards their expansion strategy not just in Australia but in our region. They understand what talent we already have here in their fields and they want to engage it. They will drive their regional expansion from here in Adelaide.

I also had useful talks with other defence-related companies at Farnborough that may be interested in following the Babcock example of concentrating their South-East Asian presence in Adelaide. In France, I was made very welcome at the highest levels of government and industry and took part in the Bastille Day celebrations in Paris with Their Excellencies the Governor-General and the Governor of South Australia. It was good to see Australian soldiers and their colours lead that march, although of course the day ended very tragically indeed.

I was also able to begin developing broader relations with leaders of the region in Brittany. This region, apart from its historical focus on fishing and agriculture, is of course also home to the great naval port of Brest and the not far away DCNS submarine building operations at Cherbourg. In all my dealings in France, it was borne in on me that the longstanding affinity the French feel for Australia remains strong. As well, for them, the submarine project resonates with that common history.

Two clear messages emerge from my meetings during the trip. First, it is impossible to exaggerate how important all this is for the future of South Australia. We are not just building submarines, frigates, patrol vessels and a cluster of supply enterprises, we are doing far more. This is because military equipment is always at the leading edge, whether it is in large-scale platforms like submarines, destroyers and frigates or the direct combat systems, cybersecurity or the boots that soldiers wear. It has to be: it is a matter of life and death.

Things developed to meet the special needs of space travel or defence find their way into our kitchens, where we take them for granted. The microwave oven is an almost accidental but direct outcome of urgent wartime attempts to improve radar capability. That is the game we are in. It is true that in dealing with the immediate future in building vessels for the Navy that we have a strong focus on defence industries, but history tells us that seizing this opportunity to build defence industries can carry us beyond the horizons we presently imagine.

The submarine project does not begin in 2022; it is underway right now here, in Britain and in France. We have hit the ground running to prepare for the future it offers South Australia. Our support for developing supply chain opportunities is welcomed by all major participants. We will continue that support, and I can announce to the house that South Australia will be taking a large stand at the massive Euronaval expo in Paris in October, where naval technologies of the future will be on display. It will not be the only Australian stand, but it will be the biggest. Sixteen companies will be represented there, including the nation's major shipbuilder, the ASC, the only Australian shipbuilder to have built a submarine and a major large surface ship in the air warfare destroyer.

There is a second message from my encounters in England and France. Our friends in France are approaching this massive project with a united and multifaceted approach. I was able to see clearly that they are operating as Team France and they are seeking to develop relationships with us at all levels. It is only fair and reasonable that they would expect us to honour that commitment, that unity and that embrace of new opportunities by matching it—matching it in kind and matching it in spirit.

To meet the reasonable expectations of our friends in France, all levels of government, industry, unions and other stakeholders must all focus unwaveringly on what is good for the country and what is good for the state. We enjoy the goodwill of the major contractors, but we have to understand that nothing will be given to us out of kindness. We have to be the place that people want to be. We have to foster the partnerships they value. We have to prove our willingness to seek and to meet challenges, and our capacity to perform at the highest level.

All of us have to be resolute in bringing our best selves to the task. All of us—government, investors and management, members of the workforce—have something to contribute and each of us needs the others. A simple message to everyone from the electorate, from business and from unions—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The deputy leader is on two warnings. If I hear from her out of order again, she will be out, which is a pity because she appears to be on the question list.

The Hon. M.L.J. HAMILTON-SMITH: A simple message to everyone, particularly those opposite, and to business and to industry and to the electorate, is that we are determined to see these projects succeed and that there is simply no room for petty partisan politics.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The remedy is not with me if ministerial statements offend the house. The remedy is with the member, who should terminate leave.