Steven Marshall to visit the Prime Minister to remind him SA is the centre of naval shipbuilding
West Australia has fired an opening salvo in the battle to wrest 700 submarine jobs from South Australia — and SA Premier Steven Marshall isn’t standing for it.
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Premier Steven Marshall will visit Prime Minster Scott Morrison this week to launch an offensive to ensure more than 700 submarine jobs remain in Adelaide.
The move has been instigated as the West Australia State Government is to launch a major campaign to wrest future submarine maintenance of Collins Class submarines from South Australia.
If successful the WA campaign could cost South Australia an estimated 700 jobs and the local economy more that 350 million per annum.
Mr Marshall has told the Sunday Mail he will pitch the case that SA is unquestionably the centre of naval shipbuilding in Australia.
South Australia’s Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick has been warning for months the elevation of WA MPs — Linda Reynolds and Melissa Price to the Defence Defence Industry portfolios — meant trouble for Adelaide.
West Australian Defence Issues Minister Paul Papalia confirmed this week securing maintenance and sustainment of Australia’s submarines and frigates is a key objective of his government.
“This includes the transition of Collins class full cycle docking to WA,” Mr Papalia said.
Mr Marshall said the Collins class sub was designed and built right in Adelaide.
“The experts who provide the deep maintenance are here, living with their families,” he said.
“Shifting that capability makes no sense given the additional investment in SA and the requirement for that sort of ongoing industrial know-how.
“The Federal Government has said that any move of sustainment work would only occur if capacity constraints are encountered at Osborne, and we fully intend to hold them to that.”
Senator Patrick, who accused Mr Marshall of not doing enough about cross border threat, said the WA plan will not work.
“It seems that the WA Government is being completely overt in their plans to steal the work from SA,” he told the Sunday Mail.
“A large portion of the workers will not move to WA and that will have devastating effects on the submarine enterprise’s corporate knowledge.
“Thousands upon thousands years of ‘know how’ and ‘know why’ will be lost.
“This can only be harmful to national security.
“Additionally, shifting the facility will cost the taxpayer billions.”
Full cycle docking involves cutting the submarines in half, then rebuilding them — a process currently only undertaken in SA.
The West Australian reported to win the work from South Australia, the state would need to provide a workforce of about 500 people and find about $200 million to build a giant shed in Henderson, south of Fremantle, to enclose the submarines while they were worked on.
Senator Reynolds told the Sunday Mail the Government would make decisions about the location of the Collins class and Future Submarines sustainment, including full-cycle docking, in due course.