Rex Patrick says FOI fight reveals WA not ready for Collins-class work

A South Australian Senator says documents he uncovered show the west is not up to the job of finishing key naval maintenance works.

Western Australia does not have a big enough shipyard or the necessary skills to complete major maintenance work on the Collins-class submarines, previously secret government documents reveal.

After a three-year Freedom of Information battle, independent SA Senator Rex Patrick has acquired a federal government study into shifting the work from the Osborne shipyard to WA. He says the assessment boosts SA’s chances of securing 700 jobs.

The April 2018 documents found shipbuilder ASC would have to significantly expand its Henderson shipyards in WA if it wanted to complete full-cycle docking work there.

“In moving FCD (full-cycle docking) to WA, additional land facilities will be required adjacent to or nearby the current ASC West facility,” the documents say.

The full-cycle docking transition study said WA did not have enough space at the Henderson shipyard to complete the work.

Western Australia did not have a big enough shipyard or the necessary skills to complete major maintenance work on the Collins-class submarines, never-before-seen documents reveal. The documents show WA had to acquire land owned by Hanseatic and a sump drainage site to expand the ASC shipyard in order to secure the work. Picture: ASC Transitional Study

WA would need to acquire land owned by yacht manufacturers Hanseatic Engineering and an area used for sump drainage.

Even if the ASC West site was expanded, it wouldn’t be big enough to accommodate all maintenance work, meaning staff at Osborne would need to pick up the slack.

“The acquisition of the Hanseatic and sump land areas will expand the facility substantially but will still be of less area than the current ASC North (Osborne) facility and as a result not all FCD services can be accommodated,” the documents state.

The study found if the work did move to WA, staff in Adelaide might be required for “particular specialist support”.

The Advertiser confirmed on Wednesday ASC West had not made any expansions for the work, further boosting confidence Adelaide would retain the lucrative project.

A 2019 PwC study, commissioned by the WA government, found moving Collins-class full-cycle docking to that state would contribute an extra $600m annually to its economy and generate thousands of jobs.

ASC on Wednesday declined to comment on why the Perth site wasn’t expanded. The WA government was contacted for comment.

After every 10 years of service, each of the six Collins-class submarines rotate through a full-cycle docking – a widespread maintenance and refit program. The first submarine in the fleet – HMAS Collins – was first commissioned in July 1996.

The work is currently done at the Osborne shipyard, while less significant maintenance work is done in Perth.

However, the study showed Adelaide was frequently stepping in to plug skill shortages, including in welding and “specialist platform equipment knowledge”. It also found moving the work had the potential to “adversely impact” availability of the Collins-class submarines after maintenance.

Senator Patrick said the study “confirms and adds to the known risks associated with moving Collins full-cycle docking work to WA”.

Senator Patrick obtained the documents following a three-year long freedom of information battle.

“It makes no sense to spend a billion dollars of taxpayer’s money to upgrade facilities in the west and shift the work away from SA, all at the expense of submarine availability,” he said.

“We have 700 direct employees at ASC (Osborne) who are being left in limbo, and 700 companies in ASC’s supply chain that are dealing with unnecessary uncertainty.”

An official decision on the location of the work is yet to be made.

Senator Patrick demanded the federal government “rule out” moving the work to WA. He had been fighting the Defence Department to release the 18-page study, which was previously heavily redacted.

Acting Information Commissioner Elizabeth Hampton forced the department to re-release the report with only portions of two pages redacted.

“There is no doubt in my mind that the government opposed the release of this document not for any defence or commercial reasons, but political sensitivity,” Senator Patrick said.

The office of Defence Minister Peter Dutton, who attended a defence industry roundtable in Washington overnight, was contacted for comment.