Blame game over revelation Future Frigates bidders don’t have to use Adelaide workforce

A WAR of words has erupted in Canberra over the workforce for the $30 billion Future Frigates project

A WILLING war of words has erupted in Canberra over the workforce for the $30 billion Future Frigates project.

The Advertiser has revealed on the Government’s own tender document told the three bidders they did not have to use the workforce that is currently employed in Adelaide for the Air Warfare Destroyers.

Defence Industries Minister Christopher Pyne said that even though he can’t mandate that the foreign companies use ASC workers, SA shipbuilders will be in “prime position”.

“The Government has mandated that the construction of the frigates will be in SA,” he said. “It will require thousands of workers, plus there will be thousands more benefiting in supporting industries.

“No South Australian with the skills and qualifications needed to build ships or submarines should be concerned about their future employment opportunities.”

SA Senator Nick Xenophon said ASC workers would be contemplating working for a foreign company they don’t understand, and that the clause would mean Australia’s sovereign capability was compromised.

Opposition industry spokesman Kim Carr said the evidence showed Australia had been misled, and backed Senator Xenophon’s call for the “fraudulent” project to be cancelled and restarted.

Senior SA Senator Simon Birmingham called it “scuttlebutt”, adding that the Turnbull Government had given SA the “golden goose”.

Meanwhile the three shipbuilding contenders — Spain’s Navantia, Italy’s Fincantieri, and the UK’s BAE — all said they would maximise the use of Australian industry and were committed to an Adelaide workforce. However, none mentioned ASC.

Premier Jay Weatherill described his reaction to the news as “anger”.

“We fought very hard to get the commitment to a continuous shipbuilding and continuous submarine building program. That was the campaign that we ran and we were told that commitment had been met,” he said.

“What we now find in the fine print is that the Federal Government haven’t backed that up with obligations on the suppliers.”

Opposition Leader Steven Marshall said the state Liberals “want to see every single piece of work come to South Australia for this project”.

“We have had assurances from the Federal Government that the work will be done in South Australia,” he said.