Defence White Paper ‘an unambiguous win for SA’, says Premier Jay Weatherill

PREMIER Jay Weatherill says the Defence White Paper is an “unambiguous win for South Australia” — but there are still unanswered questions, such as where the offshore patrol vessels would be built.

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PREMIER Jay Weatherill says the Defence White Paper is an “unambiguous win for South Australia” — but there are still unanswered questions, such as where the offshore patrol vessels would be built.

“I can’t see how the Federal Government can get through an election campaign without answering these questions,” he said.

Mr Weatherill said other questions about the proportion of the build to take place in Australia would also needed to be answered.

But he said the announcement of the major pipeline of projects would bring big benefits to SA.

“Think about where we were 18 months ago … we were talking about a submarine building industry that may be occurring overseas — most likely Japan,” he said.

“Now, what we have is a commitment to a continuous shipbuilding and submarine building industry.

“There’s still some detail to come about exactly where the locations are.

“But the Federal Government now understands the defence of our nation is not just about air force, army and navy but also includes the critical fourth pillar that is industry.”

The Federal Government announced this morning in its long-awaited Defence White Paper that it would spend $195 billion over the next decade beefing up the capability of Australia’s armed forces.

A focus on maritime projects is set to benefit SA.

The White Paper states the nine new frigates will be built in SA, but does not mention where the 12 patrol vessels or 12 submarines would be constructed.

Mr Weatherill said the State Government would push for the patrol boats to be built in Adelaide.

“It’s going to be our next campaign,” he said.

SA Premier Jay Weatherill says the Defence White Paper is an “unambiguous win for South Australia”. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt.

Defence Industries Minister Martin Hamilton-Smith welcomed the paper’s mention of investing in defence-related research.

“Prime Minister Turnbull clearly understands the innovation and science opportunity that is there for (the) defence industry,” he said.

“The combat systems and the technology that go into its capability … can build (the) capability of science, industry and research.”

But he said he was concerned about the possibility of the patrol boats being built interstate.

“It would have of course been nice to be given some clarity as to where the OPVs were to be built,” he said.

He said it made “no sense” to build the patrol boats in a different location, such as Perth, because Adelaide had secured work on the frigates.

State Opposition Leader Steven Marshall said he was confident much of the work on the submarines and patrol boats would be done in Adelaide, but labelled the State Government’s lobbying efforts as a scare campaign.

“Virtually nothing these people (Mr Weather and Mr Hamilton-Smith) have said has come true,” Mr Marshall said.

He said the State Government needed to upgrade infrastructure to give SA the best chance of winning more defence contracts.

“The Weatherill Labor Government must also immediately commit to upgrading Techport’s facilities to ensure that we have the most up-to-date and competitive infrastructure available to secure shipbuilding contracts,” Mr Marshall said.

“If the Weatherill Labor Government is doing everything it can to secure shipbuilding contracts as it claims, then why isn’t this infrastructure being built now?”

The Defence White Paper at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra. Picture: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas