House of Assembly Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1) 55 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time AUKUS Submarines AUKUS Submarines The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS House of Assembly Black Leader of the Opposition AUKUS Submarines The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Leader of the Opposition) (14:14): My question is to the Premier. Has the Premier received a briefing on any AUKUS pathway that does not deliver the first Australian-built submarine in 2042? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain. Leave granted. The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS House of Assembly Black Leader of the Opposition The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: In recent days, the Premier has said that he was alarmed 'about just how ambitious our time line is to achieve this national endeavour'. The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS House of Assembly Croydon Premier The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:14): The short answer to the Leader of the Opposition's question is no. All the briefings that I have received from the commonwealth have made it clear that the commonwealth is committed to building nuclear submarines in Adelaide, the first of which is to be available to the Royal Australian Navy by the beginning of the 2040s. But I do absolutely concede and publicly acknowledge—and will continue to do so—that the task before us to realise that time line is a big one and it will require a great degree of ambition on behalf of not just the federal government but, indeed, the state government too. I can't again overstate the size and the complexity of this national endeavour. The British and the US have over 60 years' experience that has culminated in them being in the position where they are today—building nuclear submarines where their own time lines are not currently being met. The British are behind in the provision of both the Astute class and the Dreadnought class of submarines that are currently under construction in Barrow and, of course, the US Navy are behind in construction of the Virginia class submarines at both the Huntington Ingalls and the Electric Boat sites. Even with 60 years of experience building nuclear submarines, they are behind their own targets, so I think it's a plain statement of truth to acknowledge that our targets of trying to replicate what they do in the UK and in the US in the space of a decade is ambitious by nature and that will present challenges. But I tell you what: there's one thing I know, and that is that we are capable of meeting those ambitions. We are capable of delivering on the commonwealth's ask, because every time South Australians have been asked to step up to the plate when it comes to our naval shipbuilding program or any other substantial industrial activity of our past, provided we have had the assurance of ongoing commitment and genuine flowing of dollars to the South Australian government and the South Australian people, then we have met our targets. We are capable of doing this, but it is going to require long-term effort and it is going to require ongoing bipartisanship, which I know exists in this place, to commit ourselves to this effort. The honest truth is: of course this project is going to outlast the life of this government, but it will outlast the life of the next one too, and the one after that, and the one after that, and the one after that. This is a 100-year project. As ambitious and as challenging as we know the task is, the only thing we can take comfort in is the fact that we now have started and we will continue the journey and we will do whatever it takes to make sure that the Royal Australian Navy is provided with the highest quality equipment that we are capable of building here in South Australia.