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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-10-16 Daily Xml
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Question Time

Defence Shipbuilding

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:25): My question is to the Premier. Has the Premier contacted the Prime Minister seeking any assurances that there will be no further job losses at ASC?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:26): I am very pleased to receive this question. I speak to the Prime Minister on a very regular basis, as you would be aware, sir, and we were lucky to host the Prime Minister in South Australia—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —on the weekend. The Prime Minister, the Hon. Scott Morrison, is of course a great friend of South Australia. He understands how important shipbuilding is—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, leader!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —for this state.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: He understands how important shipbuilding is to our state. We speak about it regularly. We speak about the important flow-on effects to our state of the Coalition's decisions to build ships in Australia. What we know is that the Coalition made decisions to build the air warfare destroyers. What we know is that the Coalition made the decision to build the offshore patrol vessels, and we will be building future frigates and future submarines in South Australia.

What we are not aware of is any decision that was made by the former Labor federal government to build anything—to build absolutely anything—and of course this has flow-on effects. The hiatus in decision-making at the federal level with regard to ships for the Royal Australian Navy has left a major hiatus in terms of shipbuilding between the end of the air warfare destroyer contract and the beginning of the offshore patrol vessels. What I would like to know is what were those opposite doing—

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, sir.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —during the—

The SPEAKER: There is a point of order, Premier. I will just hear the point of order by the member for West Torrens.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Standing order 98, sir: this is now debate.

The SPEAKER: Yes, 98 for debate. The question was about whether the Premier—if I have taken it correctly—has contacted the Prime Minister about job losses at ASC. I believe the Premier is coming back to the substance of the question very shortly. Premier.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I think, sir, the nub of this question is about what lobbying we do at a state level for federal contracts. I was asked the question by the Leader of the Opposition—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I will listen to the answer.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —have I spoken to the Prime Minister? The answer to that is yes, sir. He is very concerned about making sure that we can deliver on the future contracts that have been awarded to South Australia—offshore patrol vessels, future frigates, future submarines. We are doing everything we can to prepare for this bonanza which is heading South Australia's way.

But I was providing information to the chamber as a contrast, if you like, because we have a very significant problem in South Australia at the moment, which is this hiatus between the end of the air warfare destroyer contracts and the beginning of the offshore patrol vessels. This will create some real difficulties and additional costs for our nation, and the question that I was asking and the contrast that I was creating was: what was the previous government doing in terms of lobbying the federal government when the decision-making time frame was on them? That was the period of Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd—in fact, Kevin Rudd twice I think. What lobbying did the previous government do to the federal government? Where was the opposition at that point in time?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order: if the minister has nothing to answer, just sit down. It's 98, sir.

The SPEAKER: Yes.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for West Torrens—

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: It was for a short period of time, and he doesn't know what the standing orders are.

The SPEAKER: Premier, please be seated for one moment. Member for West Torrens, like any other member you are entitled to raise a point of order but not to make an impromptu speech. Consequently, I warn you for a first time. The Premier is addressing what I believe is a germane part of the question about job losses: he is talking about contracts that are related to jobs. I will listen carefully to ensure he sticks to the substance of the question. Premier.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Thank you, sir. Yes, I have spoken to the Prime Minister and, yes, I will continue to advocate for our industry here in South Australia.

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