Defence Shipbuilding

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Leader of the Opposition) (14:07): My question is again to the Premier. Has the Premier received advice from the federal defence minister that the Hunter class frigate program will not be cut and, if not, why not? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: The federal defence minister and Deputy Prime Minister said that he would receive the surface fleet review this week.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:07): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question because it provides an opportunity to put this information on the record, because it's something that I feel rather strongly about.

I have spoken to the Deputy Prime Minister about the frigate program, particularly given the surface ship review that is occurring on the back of the DSR. That was supposed to be a 90-day review. The state government has made a submission to that review, and both the Deputy Premier and myself have repeatedly, beyond the written submission itself, informally and in a number of conversations made clear to the commonwealth, including the Deputy Prime Minister, that it's our firm expectation that the Hunter program continue. So yes is the answer in terms of our engagement with him.

We await the outcome of the 90-day surface ship review. That has not been finalised nor has it been released publicly, but let me make clear on the record in this place that I want that to happen. That work is supposed to be a 90-day exercise. I appreciate there will be a little period beyond that for the commonwealth to contemplate the outcome of the review before any announcement is made publicly, but we are asking them to get on with that job. Every day that passes that has with it any ounce of uncertainty about what the future holds for that program has a real-world consequence for the ability of the industry to recruit the people who are going to be required to build those frigates.

I don't think the commonwealth has any time to waste here. I think there is a price to be paid by industry for any delay. So we do want that 90-day review to be concluded and its conclusions to be announced publicly as quickly as possible. I have made that known directly to the Deputy Prime Minister, including as part of the discussions that we had more recently around the movement of 7RAR.

So I hope that this government is in lock step with the opposition in quite frankly demanding of the federal government that they conclude that review, make the decisions, provide the certainty that industry so desperately wants so that we can get on with the task of building a world-class frigate for a Navy at a particularly important time strategically.