Labor calls on South Australian Liberals to ensure the Morrison Government includes a legal requirement for Australian industry content in the Future Submarines build contract – to deliver long-term jobs for SA.
The Future Submarines project must be used to create strategic sovereign capability – and that means ensuring local content using SA know-how and skills.
The build contract for the Future Submarines is the last opportunity to make sure South Australia can reap the benefits from the biggest purchase in Australian history.
The current price tag of the Future Submarines is $90 billion, but Liberal promises to ‘maximise’ local Australian content in the build of these submarines are worthless.
With more and more people losing work, it’s just not good enough. We must use this as an opportunity to invest in the South Australian people and their jobs.
Scott Morrison and the SA Liberals have made big promises on submarines – but so far have delivered very little.
Their focus on spin over delivery means the Future Submarines project has been mishandled from the start.
First, the Abbott Government tried to send the jobs overseas. Liberal Defence Minister David Johnston famously told South Australian workers they couldn’t be trusted to build a canoe.
Labor members and Senators fought alongside the Weatherill Government, shipbuilding workers and unions to ensure the Future Submarines were built in our state.
When the Liberals finally agreed, Christopher Pyne promised 90 per cent of the build would be in Australia but that quickly dropped to 60 per cent. Now the Morrison Government is saying just 60 per cent of the ‘contract value’ with Naval Group will be spent in Australia, which absurdly includes hotel stays, travel agencies, and locally-provided French lessons.
Meanwhile the Morrison Government secretly decided to send hull fabrication work to France.
The fact is the Morrison Government has to date failed to secure an enforceable legally- commitment that any minimum amount of the build happens in SA.
The build contract will be the last opportunity to guarantee benefits for South Australians. It’s time the South Australian Liberals delivered.