Defence Shipbuilding

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (14:14): My question is to the Minister for Defence and Space Industries. Has the Deputy Premier sought guarantees from the federal defence minister that no anticipated jobs will be cut from the 100 class frigate program and, if not, why not? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr PATTERSON: On 22 March, the Deputy Premier said:

Once the frigates scale up, there will be around 2,800 jobs associated with that and, including those, it is anticipated there will be about 5,000 jobs in the South Australian workforce associated with both the building and also the supply chain involvement.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:15): I thank the shadow minister for his question. Yes, central to our advocacy to the federal government in and around the AUKUS submarine program, but also around the Defence Strategic Review, we have made it clear that we want continuity of work so that jobs can be maintained. More than that, the DSR acknowledges that in itself, because what everybody in the commonwealth now appreciates is that any decisions that are taken that would cede to a future valley of death or the loss of workers from this industry compromise the Navy's capability in the long term. It is that simple.

There is a direct correlation between the maintenance and security and ongoing nature of work and the Navy's capabilities. The DSR in itself recognises that now more than ever naval capability in this time, in this age is essential to the national defence effort. What we do down at Osborne matters. The maintenance of the skilled workforce down there into the future matters. We are going through a process at the moment where the state government, in conjunction with the federal government, is turning its mind to what we can do to incentivise and attract young people to make a lifelong career choice to participate in the naval shipbuilding industry.

One of the most important things we can do, of course, is give them confidence that there will be work there for generations to come. We now have that pipeline of work. Between surface ships, LOTE, FCD and what is happening with SSN-AUKUS into the future, there is that pipeline of work so that a student in years 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12 today can say, 'That's where I am going to work and have a career of choice that is extremely fulfilling and lucrative financially,' for the rest of their lives.

That matters, and we are turning our minds to how we can attract more people into the workforce rather than occupying ourselves with concerns about losing people from the workforce. If the policy is maintained, not just by the current federal government but by whatever government succeeds it into the future, if the policy is maintained in a bipartisan way, we are capable of delivering the Navy the capability that it requires to provide generations of South Australians with an opportunity to have really high quality jobs here at home.

I think the task between all of us in this parliament—and I mean literally all of us in this parliament—is to make sure that we see a maintenance and a continuity of policy that has been lacking up to this point that will serve the state's interests in the long term.