Submarines contract: SA Premier Steven Marshall warns of ‘broken promises’

SA’s Steven Marshall attacks claims local firms may not get half the value of lucrative federal submarine contracts.

South Australian Premier Steven Marshall today. Picture: AAP

SA Premier Steven Marshall has come out swinging against claims by Naval Group that local manufacturers are not equipped to meet the Attack Class submarines contract, saying any major loss of work for domestic firms would be a broken promise by both the French defence giant and the Federal government.

In a spirited defence of his home state, Mr Marshall rubbished claims by Naval Group Australia CEO John Davis in Thursday’s exclusive report in The Australian that local firms may not get half of the value of the subs’ contracts.

One of the Future Submarines.

“The public statements were made time and time again,” Premier Marshall said. “The public statements were very clear. Local build, guaranteed.”

“The Naval Group and the Federal government made a commitment that this will be a local build. We will be holding them to that commitment.”

While Mr Marshall said that SA did not expect that local or domestic firms would win all the contracts, there was an expectation from both Naval Group and the Commonwealth’s previous commitments that they would be given the bulk of the work.

And he rejected any suggestion that the quality of the local workforce or product was not up to standard.

“SA firms deserve to quote on all components of these 12 attack class submarines,” he said.

“We have got excellent capability and I’m quite sure given the opportunity we will win a huge amount of the work which is already expected to be done in SA.

“I don’t want anybody talking down the capability that SA defence firms have. We have been able to supply into the air warfare destroyers very successfully. I don’t hear complaints from BAE about the capability we have here in SA for the nine Hunter Class frigates that are going to be built here in SA. This is a miscommunication because we genuinely have the firms, the skills in place to deliver on the great commitment that has already been made.”

Mr Marshall admitted that there was no written guarantee in the subs contract that a set percentage of the work would be done in SA or other states.

But he said that both Naval Group and the Federal Government were repeatedly on the public record as saying the bulk of the work would be done locally.

“The reality is I don’t think there has ever been anything in writing on any naval contract whether it be under a Liberal Government or a Labor Government,” he said.

“I just don’t accept for one second that we don’t have the capability in SA. That is just not correct. We are not going to win every single part of it. SA firms need to be competitive, that’s a fact. But they are. They have been successfully providing services and products into previous builds and I can’t see any possible plausible explanation as to why they wouldn’t into the future.”

Defence, Naval Group ‘focused, committed’

In a show of unity, Defence and Naval Group issued a joint statement on Thursday saying maximising Australian industry involvement and ensuring sovereign control over the Attack-class fleet were key items in the subs’ contract.

“Defence remains focused on these objectives and Naval Group is committed to their achievement,” the statement said.

“Our current work is focused on understanding the capabilities in Australian industry for the manufacture of submarine equipment, which differ from the capabilities required to sustain existing equipment our Collins submarine fleet.

“This work is helping us to understand how Australian industry, including the existing Collins Class Submarine supply chain, can be best prepared to participate in the Attack Class Submarine Program as the manufacture of equipment and construction of the submarines ramps up in the mid-2020s.”

Additional reporting: Ben Packham