Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Manufacturing) Share this | Hansard source

I commend the member for Fremantle for bringing this motion to the House. This is indeed a very important matter. It has significant impact not only on thousands of jobs across Australia but also on national security, skills training, national manufacturing, shipbuilding capability, research and development, and the national economy.

Australia is considering its options for the supply of up to 80 ships and submarines over the decades ahead. That will require a huge investment, running into billions of dollars. I understand the investment in the construction and ongoing maintenance of those ships could be as high as $250 billion. Whilst the exact numbers and final designs may require further work, there is no question that the expenditure is considerable but, more importantly, it is an expenditure decision that needs to be made sooner rather than later. Even if we do not determine the final design of the boats, it is an expenditure decision that should be made: that all craft required will be built here in Australia.

Unlike so many other economic decisions and major investments this country is involved with, this is a matter for which the federal government has complete responsibility. It is therefore a no-brainer that the vessels should be built in Australia and that the billions of dollars should be spent in Australia, that the jobs required to build the vessels should go to Australians and that the building of the ships, in Australia, represents a massive opportunity to also build skills, intellectual knowledge, design expertise and national capability. If we do not currently have all of the expertise required to build the ships, it makes more sense to import the expertise than to import the ships themselves, as we did with the original Collins-class submarine project.

Any savings made by the government, if it chooses to buy from overseas, will be more than offset by losses of Australian jobs and, therefore, losses of Australian tax revenue; a worsening balance of payment figure to the tune of billions of dollars; a reliance on foreign countries for important national security military equipment; the loss of skills, expertise, research and development; and the loss of advanced manufacturing opportunities that the building of the ships presents.

Making a decision now that the vessels will be designed and built in Australia will also create long-term certainty, confidence and immediate investment by industries that are associated with shipbuilding. Very importantly, we will ensure that shipbuilding work that is coming to an end right now, with most of it due to finish in 2015—and, with that, the loss of thousands of jobs, including many skills and expertise which might otherwise be lost forever—will be retained. For South Australia it is particularly important. Not only will it ensure continuing work at the Australian Submarine Corporation, but also, with the impending closure of GMH and the thousands of jobs expected to be lost, shipbuilding provides the obvious alternative for those jobs and for the hundreds of small manufacturing businesses that will equally be affected.

Regrettably, in Tony Abbott's first budget, there was no certainty provided to Australia's Naval shipbuilding future, and it was just a case of more delay, more indecision and more procrastination. Equally disappointingly, I note that the member for Mayo—who is in the chamber right now—said, when speaking about the new South Australian defence minister, 'Martin Hamilton-Smith certainly won't get access that other states will'. This issue should be above politics, and, as a South Australian MP and a minister, the member for Mayo should put South Australia's interests ahead of his own personal politics. There are a lot of jobs at stake—some 2,000-odd in South Australia and another 2,000 around the country. It is an important decision. A decision made now will ensure that there is some security and certainty for those jobs for decades to come.

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