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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-05-15 Daily Xml
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DEFENCE WHITE PAPER

The Hon. M.J. WRIGHT (Lee) (14:15): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier advise the house about the Defence White Paper 2013 released by the commonwealth government and its impact on South Australia's defence industry?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (14:15): I thank the honourable member for his question. The commonwealth government did release the Defence White Paper 2013 on 3 May and it provides a new strategic direction for the nation. We believe that the role of government, especially at a state level, is not to tell the commonwealth government what resources are necessary to defend the national interest.

No state government has the knowledge or resources to make those judgements, but what we do believe is that we can advocate about the nature of that spend and position South Australia in the best possible place to ensure that we win a large proportion of the nation's defence spend, and we have been successful in that regard, with 25 per cent of the nation's in-country defence spend here in South Australia.

However, we do welcome that the commonwealth budget projects defence spending to rise modestly to a total of $30.7 billion in 2016-17, reflecting a commitment in the white paper to proceed to increase defence spending when it is capable of being achieved in the national interest, having regard to our fiscal imperatives. Once the commonwealth has made decisions on what the capabilities are, we believe that South Australia can continue to punch above its weight.

Defence has made a number of key decisions in the white paper which are vital for South Australia, including the narrowing of the Future Submarine options and the broader commitment to establish truly collaborative partnerships with industry. On the Future Submarines project, the commonwealth's decision to eliminate an off-the-shelf solution and focus on either an evolved Collins or a new design provides the greatest opportunities for South Australia and the nation as a whole.

Last year we saw this reflected in the commonwealth's commitment that the Future Submarine Systems Centre and the new submarine land-based test site would both be based in Adelaide. Our industry, backed by the state's substantial investment in world-class infrastructure at Techport, is well placed to participate in these projects, which will also be important to helping avoid a decline in the specialist skills that will occur between the wind-down of the AWD program and the Future Submarines project.

The defence white paper confirms that South Australia's future in the defence industry is secure for decades to come. We know, of course, that there have been less clear commitments made by the federal opposition, and it is absolutely important that they back in behind the federal government's white paper so that we do have that future security.

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