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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-02-21 Daily Xml
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Defence Naval Shipbuilding

Ms HOOD (Adelaide) (14:21): My question is to the Premier. Is the Premier aware of any response from industry in relation to yesterday's announcement regarding the future of shipbuilding in South Australia?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Hartley is warned. The Premier has the call.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:22): When we think about industry's position in respect of yesterday's announcement, I mentioned the quotes coming from some of the biggest players themselves, but there was also a sense of relief, because there were some getting rather excited, indeed asking lots of questions in this place, about the prospect of the tier 1 surface ships being built in Glasgow. I invite members present today to cast their minds back—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Morphett!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —to only last year, more specifically on 2 November last year, when we had members opposite very excited about the prospect of the tier 1 surface ships and the frigates being built in the Govan shipyard in Glasgow. In fact, the Leader of the Opposition was very keen to ask me questions about the prospects of the work being done in Glasgow. I am very, very pleased to report that no tier 1 surface ships of the Royal Australian Navy are being built in Glasgow. They are being built right here in Osborne. Now the response of industry shifts from—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Florey!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —being distracted by those who are seeking to propel and fuel those rumours. They move away from that to actually how we deliver the workforce here in South Australia. As has been repeatedly commented on, the question isn't about where is the work coming from. The question is how we are going to get all the work done, because of the size and the scale and the complexity of the work that needs to be performed.

This morning, the Deputy Premier, the member for Cheltenham in his capacity as the local MP and also the minister for education and skills and I were down at Findon Technical College with BAE Systems, with the Minister for Defence, with the Minister for Defence Industry and with the member for Hindmarsh, seeing firsthand the training and the upskilling that is underway, literally as we speak, from young men and women who are undertaking the acquisition of the skills that are required while also doing their SACE certificate to be able to walk into a guaranteed job with BAE at the end.

We were able to see firsthand the welding bays that have been designed by BAE themselves that actually replicate the precise welding bays on site at Osborne in the shipyard. It means that they will be able to walk out of Findon Technical College with their SACE certificate, with a VET credential and straight into a job at BAE.

That is a story we will continue to tell, that is a story that the opposition is welcome to tell, because we need as many parents and young people across the state hearing about it. The only way that these industry heads get the workforce they need is if this is a government that invests in that education: a publicly, fully-funded TAFE, a TAFE that is turned around, delivering the excellence that we require, the excellence these employers require, working hand-in-hand with our high school system here in South Australia, as well as our university sector which already has over 1,100 additional university places on the back of the naval shipbuilding program—a serious workforce development strategy for a serious workforce to come.

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