STEPHEN CONROY, SHADOW MINISTER FOR DEFENCE: Its great to be here again in Adelaide, particularly here at the ASC with a range of Labors candidates and Members. We have, obviously, with us Penny Wong, Mark Butler, Nick Champion, weve got Steve Georganas, weve got another Mark, weve got a Glen Mark Ward weve got Glen Dallimore. Its great to be here with so many people who have been part of the campaign to save this shipyard and to save incredibly important manufacturing jobs here in Adelaide.
Its only just over three years ago that David Johnston, the then Shadow Defence Minister, stood right here and said the Liberal Party will build 12 submarines in Adelaide and what we then saw after they were successfully elected was every single day they tried to back away and give up on the people of Adelaide. We had the handshake deal between then Prime Minister Abbott and the Japanese Prime Minister. We saw attacks the infamous the ASC couldnt build a canoe. But I am proud to have been part of a campaign led by the workers here at the ASC, led by the union, led by the people of Adelaide and importantly Labors team, many of whom are here with me today, to stop that outrage, that decision to sacrifice jobs simply because Tony Abbott had done a deal to give up on the submarines.
So, Im here today to absolutely reiterate Labors commitment that the Collins Class submarines were able to be 70 per cent, as part of the overall construction, built here in Adelaide. Labor will ensure I will mandate that if I am the Defence Minister, the contract that DCNS will sign will have a clause that says a minimum a minimum of 70 per cent needs to be built here in Adelaide and across Australia. And that is something that when I have put that directly to Marise Payne, the current Minister for Defence, she will not sign up to. I have no idea why she wouldnt be prepared to sign up to that.
Labor, Bill Shorten, will mandate in the contract 70 per cent of the total the total build will be here in Australia and here in Adelaide and I challenge Marise Payne to give that commitment. I challenge her to stand up for the people of Adelaide, to stand up for the workers here. So, that is my challenge to Marise Payne today. I might pass over to Penny now for a few words about the campaign over the last three years.
SENATOR PENNY WONG, LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION IN THE SENATE: Thanks very much Stephen. Well we have one message today: Labor stands up for Australian jobs, Labor has always stood up for South Australian jobs and we will always stand up for South Australian jobs and youve seen that over the last three years under the Abbott-Turnbull Government. We have had a bipartisan commitment since the eighties to defence jobs here in South Australia. Well, that was broken by the Liberal Party when they walked away from their promise to build submarines here. Now, the Labor team, those standing behind me, the workers, the union and the South Australian community have worked together to get the Liberals back on track, drag them back, to a bipartisan position to support defence jobs here in South Australia. And I want to acknowledge all of the work of the many people who have been involved in this campaign, but in particular I want to acknowledge the work of G len Dallimore, our Candidate for Mayo, who is a worker here at ASC and who has done so much work in making sure this campaign got traction. So thank you very much Glen for your work.
Of course this has not been the only thing that South Australian Labor has done in terms of standing up for South Australian jobs. I just want to reiterate on top of the in addition to the submarines, you have already seen Bill Shorten make a commitment of $500 million to Adelink, the tram network. It will create 2000 jobs, be good for public transport here in South Australia, a really important investment in the South Australian economy and in our productivity and of course the investment in ensuring companies can diversify from auto by enhancing the South Australian Governments own package by $17.5 million dollars. These are already commitments Labor is making when it comes to South Australian jobs.
I want to - just on one other issue, if I can, before we turn to questions. Malcolm Turnbull is here in town and he has made a big effort to go to Cory Bernardis fundraiser. I want to just make this point. Tony Abbott had to sack Cory Bernardi. The new Malcolm Turnbull appears to be beholden to Cory Bernardi. Cory Bernardi, whose views were so extreme the old Malcolm Turnbull wouldnt have touched him with a barge pole but now he is happy to be beholden to him and to headline one of Cory Bernardis fundraisers. If you ever wanted an example of how the old Malcolm Turnbull and the new Malcolm Turnbull are very different people, here is one. Were happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: Can I just stick to Turnbull, Senator Wong? Why would there have to be a separation demonstrated between the Prime Minister and Senator Bernardi?
WONG: Well I think isnt the question - maybe we could ask the Prime Minister why he is so happy to be close to someone who is so extreme in his views that even Tony Abbott had to sack him?
JOURNALIST: But its all in for a campaign, surely?
WONG: Well, all I know is this, and I think Australians know this, whether its on marriage equality or on a range of other social issues, Cory Bernardis views are not where Malcolm Turnbulls views used to be. All of a sudden, Malcolm Turnbull appears to be best chums with him. Now, lets all remember, Tony Abbott sacked this bloke and now Malcolm Turnbull is his best mate.
JOURNALIST: Couldnt we not see it perhaps as a gesture of [inaudible]?
WONG: Well maybe you should put that to Malcolm Turnbull. I think Australians are pretty clear about what Cory thinks and they are also pretty clear about the difference between the old and the new Malcolm. I mean, I just cant imagine the old Malcolm being so chummy with someone who held such extreme views.
JOURNALIST: Could I ask
CONROY: Now, look I want to back Penny up here. I remember what Malcolm Turnbull said. I remember when Cory Bernardi made some outrageous speeches and made some outrageous statements and Malcolm Turnbull would not support him. Malcolm Turnbull went on the record to not support Cory Bernardi. But this is again a circumstance where Malcolm Turnbull does one thing before he is Prime Minister and after he becomes Prime Minister he does another thing. He says one thing but he does another thing and that is now a repeating pattern - whether its on climate change, whether its on same-sex [marriage], whether its on the republic, whether its on Cory Bernardi. I mean, the Malcolm Turnbull the Australian public thought was becoming Prime Minister is not the Malcolm Turnbull that we see here today.
JOURNALIST: On the submarine contract, youre insisting that Marise Payne sign on to the 70 per cent number. I think even Chris Pyne might have been pretty positive about that. I know that being the case on Q&A. I stand to be corrected on that.
CONROY: But they wont make it a mandate in the contract.
JOURNALIST: Are they beholden to a process though? I mean they cant come out and simply say
CONROY: No, you dont need a process. I have spoken to DCNS and I said expect this. I have made it very clear to DCNS we expect the minimum. Not a maximum. It will be a minimum of 70 per cent. DCNS are under no illusions from us and we believe we can deliver that comfortably. But they wont write it into the contract. Why not? What are they afraid of? The people of Adelaide deserve an answer. The people of Australia deserve an answer. If Bill Shorten becomes Prime Minister, that will be written into the contract.
JOURNALIST: The Prime Minister is obviously out there right now guaranteeing basically submarine builds in Australia and South Australia particularly. Do you think that it is still possible to catch the imagination of the South Australian electorate campaigning on this issue?
CONROY: Well, I think there is no issue more central to the future of South Australia than this one. I think that wanting to lock down the details you remember when the contract was announced the French threw a party. They said there was going to be 4000 people employed in Sherbrook. Ive been to Sherbrook. Ive been to their plant. Four thousand people working on the submarines. So, you have got to ask the question: how can there be 3000 jobs in Australia and 4000 jobs in France? So the devil will be in the detail and I want to nail that detail down. It is not acceptable for the French to be claiming they are going to have 4000 jobs from this when we are only getting 3000 if its all being built here. So I want it in the contract. I want there to be no argument, there to be no ability for any negotiations after the election. I mean this is a contract that has been announced. It has not been signed. So, let& rsquo;s put our money where our mouth is. JOURNALIST: So isnt that hard for you to say its not signed yet. Suppose there are some commercial niceties to dispose of first
CONROY: Yes, as an example, when I was doing my tour of the facilities - I have been inside a Barracuda, a fabulous, fabulous submarine - but DCNS explained to me that a nose of a submarine - a very, very important part of how you protect and hide, the stealth features - and they made it very clear to me that they believe the nose needed to be made in Cherbourg. That is a really important, large part of the submarine. And yet, all of a sudden, they think theyve got 4000 jobs. So those details are very important. So were saying to the Government, its time to lock those details down and make a public commitment that 70 per cent minimum minimum will be built here in Australia.
WONG: Can I just add to that? I think the South Australian public know the Liberals are very good at making commitments before an election. There are a lot of words before an election. There were words spoken here by the Liberals before the last election, which they walked away from, which all of us had to fight very hard to get overturned to get delivered. We had to fight very hard to overturn Tony Abbotts position, which was to send the submarine build to Japan. So the Liberals say one thing before an election and they do another thing after. So, what they should do before this election is give bipartisan commitment to 70 per cent local content. Lets give a bi-partisan commitment to South Australian jobs.
JOURNALIST: And, can you perhaps shed any light at all on what the party polling says about submarines?
CONROY: Well, I think the people--
WONG: Hes asking a polling question.
CONROY: The people of Adelaide have made it very clear, they expect the Liberals to keep their promise. They are not interested in just words. They are interested in an actual signed contract. So Im not going to believe that this is going to be delivered to the people of Adelaide until I see a signed contract and hopefully Ill be signing it. And our contract will say 70 per cent. But the people of Adelaide have been promised before and ratted on by the Liberal Party. So we want them to announce. All I can say is if they are not prepared to sign it, then the people of Adelaide should be concerned and that I think there will be a major backlash if the people of Adelaide think they are being conned again by the Liberal Party.
WONG: Ok, thanks very much guys.
JOURNALIST: What do you make of a video that has resurfaced of Bill Shorten in 2011 appearing to support company tax cuts?
WONG: Well, look Im happy to answer that. Lets be clear about the choice at this election. The choice at this election is between a party that is committing to protect Medicare and put funding into Australian schools, and a Liberal party who wants to give big business, including the big banks, a big tax cut. Thats the difference. Now, clearly if you were in different circumstances, the Budget wasnt under pressure, you could look at some of the things that Bill was talking about but we are not in those circumstances. We need Budget repair thats fair. This is about priorities and about choices and the choice at this election is investment in schools and the protection of Medicare, or a tax cut for big business, including the big banks.
CONROY: Could I just add to that? Malcolm Turnbull is walking around this country saying he has got an economic plan. I invite every Australian to take the Treasury modelling that was released at the same time because what that Treasury modelling shows is that any benefit, any jobs, any growth, start after 10 years. So their plan to create jobs and growth in the next three years is zero. There isnt a job or any economic growth that comes from this package until 2026. Thats the Treasury modelling.
So you have a choice, as Penny has said, between a Party that wants to bring us back to surplus in a fair way, to balance the Budget in a fair way, or a Prime Minister, Prime Minister Turnbull, who wants to give the big banks $7 billion in tax cuts, who wants to give people who earn less than $80,000 nothing, who wants to give Australian families $100,000 university degrees, who wants to slash and burn and privatise Medicare. And that has started. You have just seen Telstra win a contract to look after the health records, so the behind the scenes privatisation of Medicare has begun.
So yes tax cuts for business and for average Australians are a good thing when we can afford them but right now that is not the choice that we have. And this idea that they have got jobs and growth for the next three years look at their Budget figures. Look at their Treasury modelling. There is nothing in their package for the next three years or five years or seven years.
JOURNALIST: Sorry just one more. On radio this morning Malcolm Turnbull said any idea on rise in the GST is dead and buried. Do you believe him when he says that?
CONROY: Absolutely not. I mean the GST is in the DNA in the DNA of the Liberal Party. They exist to introduce a 15 per cent GST and Malcolm Turnbull has to promise that while he is Prime Minister he will never introduce it. Not what he said so far. Malcolm Turnbull has said so far I wouldnt introduce a GST for the next three years. Well, you know, that is code for? Ill take it to the next election a GST of 15 per cent on everything at the next election. So theyre more words you cant believe from Malcolm Turnbull. The Liberal Party exists to introduce a GST. It is in their DNA and if you look at the Treasury modelling on their economic package, how do they say that they are paying for the corporate tax cuts? How do they say they are paying? This is Treasury modelling. Its either through bracket creep - that is increased personal income taxes - or i ntroducing a GST. That is the only way you get the impact of the pretence of jobs and growth after the 10 years. So in the Treasurys own modelling, they model the fact that the way they pay for it is by introducing a GST. So lets not be fooled by Malcolm Turnbulls words. He would have to sign a document on television that he as Prime Minister would never introduce it and then the people of Australia might be given to believe him.
WONG: Thank you, everyone.
ENDS