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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-11-02 Daily Xml
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Question Time

Defence Naval Shipbuilding

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Leader of the Opposition) (14:03): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier explain what a continuous shipbuilding program here in South Australia looks like? With your leave, sir, and that of the house I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: In The Advertiser today it has been reported that shipbuilder BAE Systems may build the frigates at its Govan shipyard in Glasgow, rather than at the Osborne Naval Shipyard.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:03): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. One would have thought that what constitutes a continuous ship build would be rather obvious or self-evident, but nonetheless I'm more than happy to provide a further explanation to the Leader of the Opposition. A continuous ship build is where you build one ship and then another and then another and another in—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Members to my left and right, order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier has the call.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the Treasurer! Premier.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: The commonwealth has made it clear that it has accepted the recommendations in chapter 8 of the Defence Strategic Review. Chapter 8 of the Defence Strategic Review calls for a continuous shipbuilding program to be based in Australia, more specifically in South Australia. We as a state government have adopted a bit of a different approach to the government prior in that we are willing to lean in to a serious effort, both publicly and privately to—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Morialta!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier has the call.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —demand of the commonwealth that they honour that commitment. I note that there has been some unsourced speculation in the media that has got members of the opposition very excited about the prospect of ships not being built in South Australia. That is not—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —a degree of excitement that this government shares. We much prefer—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —to see a degree of bipartisanship applied to the strategically important nature of not just a domestic ship build for the purpose of South Australian industry but, far more importantly, for the interests of our national security. We have seen in Australia lessons being learnt the hard way as a result of chop-changing policy when it comes to shipbuilding in South Australia. We have seen the consequences—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —of a commitment—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Member for Morialta!

The Hon. V.A. Tarzia interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Hartley!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: We have seen the consequence of the former Abbott government's—

Mrs Hurn interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Schubert!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —decision to build the submarines in Japan, and that program—

Mr Pederick interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Hammond!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —not being committed to being in Australia.

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Morialta!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: We don't want to see a chop-changing nature of ship build policy in our state, which is why we endorse the DSR recommendation released by the commonwealth. It is our firm expectation that the Hunter class program be delivered here in South Australia, and we have every—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —confidence in our ability to make sure that we prosecute that argument on the national stage both publicly—

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Morialta!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —and privately to ensure that our interests are protected for the purpose of future generations in our state—

The Hon. V.A. Tarzia interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Hartley!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —getting the jobs and the work that they deserve.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The level of interjections is considerable from both the left and the right.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The leader.

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