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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-02-20 Daily Xml
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Hunter Class Frigate Program

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (14:36): A supplementary: can the minister advise if she has been advised of any money in the federal budget for the replacement ship to the AWDs?

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:37): I thank the shadow minister for his question, albeit of a rather similar nature to some of the questions we had earlier. Today we have had a very substantial announcement from the commonwealth including money in the budget for a continuous shipbuilding program in South Australia. I think it's pertinent to remind people that you don't get a continuous ship build unless you start one and now we've got that; now we've got that. You don't get a—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Morphett! The member for Colton is on a final warning.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: You don't get a seventh, eighth, ninth, 10th, 11th, 12th ship unless you have a first, second and third. Today we now have a commitment from the federal government that allows for the budget of the construction of major tier 1 surface ships in Osborne, which is why—and I can't stress this enough—there is a sense of relief amongst the workforce there today.

There has been a lot of speculation. Let's be frank about it: there has been a huge amount of speculation that the current federal government would not provide the funding that we require and would not provide the funding that hasn't been made before up until this point for the Hunter class to be built. We have had a lot of articles from armchair experts seeking to diminish the Hunter class, seeking to diminish the capacity of the workforce—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —at Osborne. There has been no shortage of articles written by commentators across the land that the Hunter class program should be cut altogether. That has not been our view: we have argued for the exact opposite. So we are very pleased, as are the workers down at BAE today as are BAE themselves, there is now that certainty. Again, I come back to that fundamental point. The Defence Strategic Review—

Mr Cowdrey interjecting:

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: Well, there wasn't certainty yesterday because there was no money yesterday; now there is—and that's the point.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Morphett!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Schubert, order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: The Defence Strategic Review then led to the naval surface ship review that the commonwealth announced. We have made clear that we thought, 'Enough reviews already, no more reviews. Let's start to see some money in the budget for the first time,' and now we've got that. That certainty is important. It actually means that we get it built.

Like I said before, all the noise in the world, all the criticism—which, of course, you are paid to do—really will be washed away when people down at Osborne see that workforce double, when people down at the workforce start to see these extraordinary elite tier 1 surface ships being built—8,200 tons of displacement; these are at the light ship weight.

These are extraordinary vessels that will serve our country well into the future and you will see them being built over the years ahead. We look forward to that first one coming off the line in the 2030s and then at a drumbeat of every two or three years after that. Every time we see one of those new ones come into the water, people will know they were built in South Australia, delivered with a workforce that this government is investing in, by a Labor government, to actually make it happen.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

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