MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE
Mr GEORGANAS (Adelaide) (15:48): It gives me great pleasure and pride to speak about AUKUS, which is a core pillar of this government's national security policy to protect our nation. When you look at AUKUS, the announcements that have been made and what's in store for the future, it is exactly the type of defence strategy that governments should be very proud of.
AUKUS will shape and grow the economy for decades to come. It will increase economic complexity, with skilled jobs. In South Australia, it is very much welcomed.
It is welcomed because South Australia has a proud history of manufacturing. Right up until 2013, we were developing and producing cars, until they were ousted by the former government. So it was a welcome announcement to be told that we will make the submarines in South Australia.
It will cost $2 billion in infrastructure alone for the submarine construction yard, which has started and will be completed at some point in the very near future. Four thousand people will be employed just to construct the construction yard, let alone the people that will be employed for cutting-edge, high-technology submarine building, including welders and a whole range of trades.
When you think of AUKUS, it is a massive project. It's a nation-building project. It's a project that, of course, will have its hiccups along the way.
When governments undertake projects as big as AUKUS, there'll always be hiccups along the way. We're dealing with unforeseen elements. We're dealing with things that are completely out of hand.
But that's not to say that this will not get completed, and that's not to say that this will not benefit the economy. Most importantly, there's the strategic defence of our nation. It will strengthen the bilateral relationships and defence relationships with the United States and the UK, ensuring that we are protecting our nation and that the security of this nation is top-notch.
When I think of AUKUS, I think of the cutting-edge technology, research and development and the creation of jobs. There will be thousands of people working in the shipbuilding industry, whether it be submarines or manufacturing industries. That will feed into submarine production.
We're talking generation after generation after generation of decent paid jobs for working Australians to continue that proud history of manufacturing in South Australia that we once had. Back then, it was car manufacturing. Many said that we couldn't build assembly lines in the thirties and forties, when General Motors was being developed.
They're the same arguments we're having now. Yet automobile production produced a great economy for South Australia for 70, 80 years. AUKUS and shipbuilding and submarine building in South Australia will continue to give jobs to South Australians for generations to come.
It will ensure that they're not just plain jobs but cutting-edge jobs, with training, technology and a whole range of other things that go with it. One of our biggest problems will be finding workers. There are estimates that up to 20,000 will be required for the AUKUS build itself, plus the manufacturing that will be feeding into it.
That's a pretty good problem to have if you're a government, I reckon. It could be, as we've seen in past history with different governments, the other way around, where you've got thousands out of work. This is a pretty good problem to have.
Those who are not supporting it or who are perhaps having a go at AUKUS should have a good think about where this is taking us as a nation in terms of our defence, security, economic capabilities and the creation of jobs, which are so important to Australia and also for the strategic partnership with the United States and the UK in terms of defending our nation.
When you look at governments, what are we here for? No. 1, to provide security to the nation, to make the Australian public feel that they are secure at a time of need, when we're under threat; and No. 2, to keep an economy going with jobs for people to put bread and butter on the table. This is exactly what AUKUS is doing.
It covers two areas, plus the research and development and the cutting-edge technology that will go into the future for many years to come.