The price tag for a totally Australian-built sub is unlikely to float – and it looks like the Abbott Government is trying to break the news gently to shipbuilders in South Australia, writes Michael Brissenden.
The message that the next generation of submarines should be built in Australia is now being delivered to the Government from within its own ranks.
Liberal Senators are speaking out – including David Fawcett, who spent more than two decades in the Defence Force and for much of that time was an experimental test pilot.
The evidence of experts appearing before the Senate committee is also having an influence.
The Government has not ruled out buying the new submarines from overseas, possibly Japan, but Senator Fawcett said nothing that is available is suitable.
Senator Fawcett follows Defence acquisition carefully – including the multi-billion-dollar plans for new submarines.
“To my mind [it] has to be fit for purpose – we have to have that sovereign engineering capability and the most cost effective way to achieve that is to build them here in Australia,” he said.
Before the election the Government promised the boats would be built in Australia, but now the Prime Minister puts it differently.
“We want the very best submarines and we want them at the best possible price,” Mr Abbott said.
Senator Fawcett said it was tempting to think you could shift the risk to someone else and save money by outsourcing the work to another country.
But he pointed to research showing the premium for building them in Australia is at least partially offset by the benefits for innovation and productivity, and he said there was not a suitable submarine available anyway.
“We need submarines that are fit for purpose and it’s important to realise that there is nothing available off the shelf at the moment for conventional submarines that is fit for Australia’s purpose,” he said.
“Secondly we need the sovereign engineering and manufacturing capacity to conduct the maintenance and certification activities throughout the whole life of the submarines.
“Evidence shows that the most cost effective way to achieve those two things is to build the submarines here.”
Senator Nick Xenophon wants an open tender process
Independent South Australia senator Nick Xenophon is a member of the Senate economics committee that has been taking evidence from experts on the choice.
“When the Senate hears from experts of the stature of Dr John White, who has an international reputation in relation to shipbuilding, that there must be a competitive tender process for these submarines then this Government would be both reckless and foolish to go down any other path,” Senator Xenophon said.
South Australian Liberal Senator Sean Edwards is deputy chair of the economics committee and he is also speaking up to ensure Australians are not excluded from getting a chance to do the work.
“I’ve listened to expert testimony. I just don’t want to have participated in political life to find out one day that we were never given an opportunity to bid on something that we could’ve probably done,” he said.
Senator Xenophon wants an open tender process.
“A robust, rigorous process to ensure that we are getting the best value for money – the best value in terms of our naval capabilities and you won’t be able to do that if you simply have a cosy deal with just one government, namely with Japan,” Senator Xenophon said.
“Those who are interested in bidding for this can do so. I would imagine it would be the Japanese, the Germans the French and an Australian-based consortium, but the proviso must be that every bit of these submarines is built right here in Australia, otherwise we are foolishly exporting jobs.”
Senator Fawcett said he was mostly worried about where the process ends up.
“The outcome we need is a partnership with a designer who will be prepared to transfer to Australia not only access to the intellectual property and the design artefacts, but provide opportunities for our engineers, our manufacturing workers, to develop competence in the skills they need to actually support the submarine through life,” he said.
“And the best way to do that is through the manufacturing process.
“I’m not closed to any of the options as long as that cost capability and risk assessment is done so that the solution we end up with is one that effectively gives us a submarine that is fit for purpose and provides that capability to maintain it through life,” he said.
“And I maintain it’s best for the economy and best for Defence if that work is done here in Australia.”
The Government is expected to announce the next step for the next generation of submarines next year.
Labor and the Manufacturing Workers Union have said the Government should keep its promise to build the boats in Australia.
source: abc.com.au
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