Hunter Class Frigate Program

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Leader of the Opposition) (14:58): In the spirit of bipartisanship, I am delighted to hear Emirates is returning. It will save me about four hours going into Glasgow instead of Edinburgh when I return to Scotland, so it is excellent news. I am not returning permanently. My question is to the Premier—

An honourable member interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: Onto more serious matters: is the government fighting to maintain the program of nine Hunter class frigates being built in South Australia? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: On 5 February 2024, a number of news reports claimed that the Premier was 'relaxed' if the Commonwealth government delivered six frigates. It has also been reported that Australian Industry and Defence Network chief, Brent Clark, has said that, given the government was prioritising speed to capability, defence would have no choice but to procure from overseas to the detriment of local companies.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:59): I thank the leader for the opportunity and for his question because it's extremely important on a range of different levels. In respect of the last part of the Leader of the Opposition's question, if the federal government went down the path of seeking to procure frigates or any major surface ships from overseas, that would have a deleterious impact on local industry and, in our view, the long-term security and sovereignty of the country, and we would actively campaign against it. We have made that view clear: formally, informally, private, publicly, at every possible level.

Yesterday I had the opportunity—

An honourable member interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: I'll come to the number. Yesterday I was in Canberra to advocate the state government's position specifically in regard to the Hunter class program. What we know is this: the commonwealth, under the former government, identified the building of the Hunter class in Adelaide. They announced the policy of building nine of the ships in Adelaide, but in terms of the funding profile, there were zero ships—zero ships—and that's part of the challenge.

The federal government now has to make sure that if we are to build the Hunter class in South Australia, we don't just announce a number, we actually announce the extraordinary volume of dollars that is required to actually build them. That's where the rubber hits the road. Not too dissimilar to health policy, you have actually got to put the money in. With the federal government, they have to deliver upon that.

In terms of what matters to our state and to the industry more than anything, it is the continuous shipbuilding program. The South Australian government is entitled to have a view around what ships, but largely we want the federal government making decisions around what ships are built that best meet the Navy's needs, particularly in the current strategic environment. What matters from our perspective is that we are actually building the ships here in South Australia, which is central to the sovereign capability of the nation.

To that end, we do not believe that the federal government can honour its commitment to continuous shipbuilding in South Australia without it being Hunter, because if they don't deliver Hunter, then there is no continuous shipbuilding. Hunter has started. It needs to continue. For it to continue, they have got to allocate the resources to build Hunter. It is our view that a commitment of just three would mean it would be almost impossible for them to honour that pledge. Six ships takes us into the late 2030s and that would provide time for the commonwealth to assess Hunter, amend the Hunter program, redesign Hunter and come up with a new version to replace Hunter, so that continuous shipbuilding can continue beyond the late 2030s.

What matters is that we get Hunter and we get it now, and that we have a plan to work out whatever replaces Hunter, because the absence of that gives us the valley of death that we have seen across governments at a federal level. What we are campaigning and advocating for is a release of the surface ship review and for the federal government to honour its commitment to continuous shipbuilding here in South Australia, and that we get on with the task of actually allocating the funds and building them.

We acknowledge the federal government's position that there are no dollars allocated to nine frigates; there never was, it was just a media release. What we need now is to allocate the funds to actually start building these ships in South Australia and creating all the jobs and economic opportunity that comes with it.