SENATOR PENNY WONG, LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION IN THE SENATE: I wanted to respond to Christopher Pynes latest attack on South Australian workers at ASC. From the Government that said that these workers couldnt build a canoe, we now have a senior Cabinet Minister from the Coalition threatening ASC for telling the truth. Threatening ASC, saying it was a big mistake for ASC to come to Estimates and do what they are required to do, which is to tell the truth, a big mistake. Well, the big mistake is Christopher Pynes. He shouldnt be threatening the shipbuilders who come here and tell the truth to Senators and the truth is 640 jobs that will be lost in the year to come. And I want to make this point: Christopher Pyne tells everybody it doesnt matter because theyll get them back. He says 640 jobs lost doesnt matter. How out of touch is this Government? What Id say to Christopher Pyne is this: tell that to the families. Tell that to the workers and the families of those workers who face losing their jobs over the next year. It shows, yet again, just how out of touch this Government is.
Ill turn to Stephen now, who will deal with some of the matters that came up in Defence Estimates today.
STEPHEN CONROY, SHADOW MINISTER FOR DEFENCE: This is an election about priorities. What we have just found out is that under the cover of the Budget, under the cover of the Leader of the Oppositions Budget speech in reply, the priority of the Turnbull Government was to sign the contract for the Spanish to build our two Supply Ships. 3000 jobs to Spain.
So the priority of the Turnbull Government was to deliver 3000 jobs to Spain the day before they call an election and threaten, as Penny has just described, the ASC for telling the truth that 640 workers in Australia are about to lose their jobs. Australians will get to make a judgement about the priorities of the Turnbull Government versus the Shorten potential Government.
Weve also just found, as youve heard, that the Minister for Defence is refusing to mandate in the contract negotiations between DCNS the successful bidder for the submarines 70 percent minimum Australian content for our submarines. I gave her three opportunities to say we will put a minimum of 70 percent into the contract with DCNS because let me be very clear about this; a Shorten Government will mandate a minimum well try for more but we want a minimum of 70 percent local content for the submarines being built in Adelaide. That was the figure that the Collins Class achieved. We believe we can do better than that but we believe it is vital to put that minimum into the contract. That contract is under negotiation right now. If a Labor Government, if a Shorten Government is elected, we will put that 70 percent minimum into the contract. This Minister, this Government again showed its priorities. It will not commit, Malcolm Turnbull will not commit to a 70 percent minimum build written into the contract.
We dont want to hear any more of these promises. Weve heard promises about submarines before, were hearing promises about local content, were hearing promises about where the steel will come from. When faced with a chance to write it into a contract, this Government runs away. We want the people of Australia, the people in Adelaide and those families and the workers at the ASC to know that this Government will not mandate these issues into the contract but a Shorten Labor Government certainly will.
WONG: Questions?
JOURNALIST: What do you make of the argument that Mr Pyne made this morning that if the AWD project runs over the workers wont lose their job [inaudible]?
CONROY: We understand that thats not the case at all. Mr Pyne will say anything and do anything at the moment to save his seat. Hes only interested in one job; his own. Hes out there claiming that there was only the one recommendation from the Department of Defence about submarines. The Minister for Defence will not back that up. He will say and do anything. We understand there is no delay. Hes just trying to find a fig leaf to cover all of his boasts, all of his claims, and all he cares about it getting himself re-elected on July 2^nd.
JOURNALIST: Given that we are still in the quite early design phase of these submarines, isnt it a bit early to be trying to mandate these at a local
CONROY: Ive just had a very lengthy conversation with Rear Admiral Sammut who made it clear that the sort of issues around steel, the sort of issues around local content, now is the time because as youre designing the submarine you design them to particular specifications. If you want Australian steel involved, youve got to put those into the specifications of the design. Ive just had a lengthy discussion about these issues in Defence Estimates and I think thats vital, vital evidence for the Australian public to know, for the people of South Australia to know, that before they sign this contract, now is the time to put on the table that theyll make those commitments on local content and on steel and dont just make airy fairy promises.
JOURNALIST: Senator Wong, this is obviously a lot of attention around these projects are being placed on South Australia. We heard from Senator Xenophon as well on this issue. Do you think that this is going to make South Australia a big, I guess, political football in this coming election campaign, given that in previous campaigns there hasnt been a whole lot of movement there in terms of seats changing hands and projects being allocated?
WONG: I know politics has certainly driven the Governments decision. We know that because they said one thing before the last election, they then backed away from that. We know that the former Prime Minister wanted the submarine project to go to Japan. And then weve seen the Government all of a sudden, again as the election approaches, making the same promise they made before the last election.
What I would say is this: first, submarines are important for the future of the nation, theyre important for our future defence capability, as well as ensuring we have an advanced manufacturing capability, not just in South Australia, but across the country. Second, Labor is the only party which has had a consistent position in relation to the submarines all through this term. What weve seen from the Liberals is a backflip and then another backflip. Finally, Id say this: the South Australian people will at this election have a choice between a party that has consistently supported the Future Submarines project being based in Adelaide, a party that is going to fund schools and hospitals and infrastructure, and a party who wants to give a tax cut to big business.
JOURNALIST: Your opponents are actually the party that delivered on the submarine contract though?
WONG: Id say this: does anyone, anyone believe that Malcolm Turnbull and Christopher Pyne would have stood up in Adelaide saying that the subs would be built there but for the campaign that the South Australian community and South Australian politicians and the Labor Party have been pressing for years? Does anyone believe that they would have done that? No. What we know is the former Defence Minister, the former Coalition Defence Minister, said that the ASC couldnt build a canoe. We know what the truth is and as I said at the outset, the win on the submarines is a win for the South Australian community, its not because the Liberal Party have done the right thing.