Release surface fleet review to stop shipbuilding job speculation: Peter Malinauskas, industry

Defence industry and Premier Peter Malinauskas are demanding the release of a key review to quell uncertainty over naval shipbuilding jobs.

Uncertainty over the future of $50bn Adelaide naval shipbuilding programs must be quelled by the swift release of an official review, according to Premier Peter Malinauskas and defence industry.

The listing of the $4bn offshore patrol vessel (OPV) program on Friday as a Defence Project of Concern raised the prospect of the project being downgraded or scrapped, said Australian Industry & Defence Network chief Brent Clark.

Mr Clark urged the release of a surface fleet review, commissioned in April, to defuse speculation about the OPVs, being built in Adelaide and Perth, and the $45bn Hunter Class frigate construction at Osborne Naval Shipyard.

“At the moment you’re doing the OPVs. If there’s any reduction in hulls, that’s a reduction in work for South Australian industry. Same with the Hunter Class … if it’s not replaced by a different class of ship being done in South Australia, the net result for South Australia is that you have lost out,” he said.

“Your workforce is in trouble. Your supply chain is in trouble. To me, I think that’s a very, very poor outcome for the country.”

At ASC Osborne in December, 2021 for the official launch of OPV Arafura, the first of two being built in Adelaide are: (LtoR) Commodore SteveTiffen, Nova Peris and Vice Admiral Michael Noonan. Picture Dean Martin

Mr Malinauskas on Thursday demanded the federal government “get cracking on announcing the outcome” of the surface fleet review, saying this would defuse speculation about the Hunter frigates.

“We do think that the Hunter Class program needs the public assurance that the surface ship review hopefully provides and that it says this program is being continued with and should be built at pace. We have made our position clear on this. We are steadfast about it. I look forward to its public release,” he told parliament, responding to a question from Opposition Leader David Speirs.

Premier Peter Malinauskas demanded the federal government “get cracking on announcing the outcome” of the surface fleet review. Picture: NCA NewsWIRE / Emma Brasier

Mr Speirs cautioned against downgrading the pipeline of work ahead of Adelaide nuclear-powered submarine construction, saying the UK’s nuclear submarine shipyard had been “left in a world of trouble” by scaling back its workforce in the 1990s.

The Defence Strategic Review released in April urged a commitment to continuous naval shipbuilding, which the federal government reaffirmed.

Defence Minister Richard Marles told an Adelaide submarine conference on September 19 that he would receive the surface fleet review by the end of the next week and issue a government response in the first part of 2024.

“The Albanese Government is taking the necessary time to consider the analysis and its recommendations before we release it, along with the Government’s response, early in the New Year,” he said.

“We continue to work closely with the South Australian government, and other key stakeholders, to ensure there is a viable continuous naval shipbuilding industry in Australia.”

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said the federal government was “fully committed to continuous naval shipbuilding in South Australia” and had made this clear on “several occasions”.

“Listing the Offshore Patrol Vessel as a ‘Project of Concern’ will bring high-level ministerial involvement. This will provide focus to efforts to develop a pathway to get the project back on track,” he said.