House of Assembly Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1) 55 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Defence Shipbuilding Defence Shipbuilding Mr PATTERSON House of Assembly Morphett Defence Shipbuilding Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (14:17): My question is to the Minister for Defence and Space Industries. Can the minister assure the house that the life-of-type extension for all six Collins class submarines will go ahead? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain. Leave granted. Mr PATTERSON House of Assembly Morphett Mr PATTERSON: Last week, the federal defence minister said in response to that question that, 'the honest answer to that question is that will give future governments options in terms of precise mix of the submarine fleet.' The Hon. S.E. CLOSE House of Assembly Port Adelaide Deputy Premier Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science Minister for Defence and Space Industries Minister for Climate, Environment and Water The Hon. S.E. CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Minister for Defence and Space Industries, Minister for Climate, Environment and Water) (14:18): Yes, we have been assured that the plan is for the life-of-type extension for all of the Collins class submarines. That is very important, not only for the extension of the use of those submarines which, of course, is very important for the defence of our nation but it is also important as part of preparing for the construction of the SSN-AUKUS. What we need are people who not only have a high degree of skill but also have experience. The combination of the full cycle docking and then the life-of-type extension work is absolutely important to make sure that we have a flow of people who are competent and capable—and demonstrably so—to be able to do work on the submarines. The commonwealth government understands that well, and has said that the plan for the LOTE will be for all of the submarines to go through that.