Bill Shorten warns against buying ‘home brand’ Japanese submarines
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Version 0 of 1. Bill Shorten has warned that buying “home brand” Japanese submarines will imperil Australia’s national security and push jobs offshore. The Labor leader attacked the government over reports that it was preparing to jettison its pre-election commitment to build 12 submarines in South Australia in favour of buying Soryu-class vessels from Japan. Although the industry minister, Ian Macfarlane, said Australia was “still in a mix” to build the submarines, Shorten said Australia could be put in danger if the submarine contract went overseas. “We’re an island nation, our national security depends on keeping skills in Australia,” Shorten said during a visit to the ASC shipyard in Adelaide. “Tony Abbott is contracting out the national security of Australia to other parts of the world. We’ve had the Japanese experts come out here, look at what Australia is doing and take our good ideas home. “Australian taxpayer money, Australian national security and Australian jobs deserve a better analysis than this rushed, botched, dishonest government. “Australia, according to Tony Abbott, has a jobs plan. The only problem is that it is creating jobs in foreign countries.” Earlier, Shorten told Triple M: “When it comes to national security you’d have thought that [the government] would have focused on the outcome as opposed to just going to the home brand.” David Feeney, Labor’s parliamentary secretary for defence, said Abbott was giving “monopoly control over Australia’s strategic capability” to Japan. “It’s a dangerous idea,” Feeney added. Feeney said reports that it would cost up to $80 billion to build submarines in Australia was a “nonsense figure” and that thousands of Australian jobs in many businesses relied on retaining the work in the country. The government insists no final decision has been made, with foreign minister Julie Bishop downplaying any wider diplomatic implications if the shipbuilding work went to Japan. “The Australian government will take into account all of the consequences and implications of the purchasing of submarines,” she told the ABC. “But no decisions have been made by the Australian government. So it’s speculation at this stage.” She added that the issue had not been raised by the Chinese foreign minister. China and Japan are involved in a territorial dispute in the east China Sea. Professor Richard Tanter of Melbourne University’s school of political and social studies backed Shorten’s view on national security. “While there may be a match between what Australia wants and what Japan can supply, the bigger picture is that it would add to regional insecurity by contributing to the remilitarisation of Japan,” he said. “It would be encouragement for Japan to abandon article nine of its constitution [which outlaws war as a means to settle disputes] that has served it so well and would be the first time Japan has exported major weapons systems since the second world war.” Ahead of the 2013 federal election, David Johnston, who is now defence minister, pledged that the 12 submarines would be made in South Australia. Macfarlane played down the prospect of the contract going overseas. The Adelaide shipyard was “still in the mix” to build the vessels, he said, despite reports it would be far cheaper to buy the Japanese submarines. “We haven’t made a decision yet on where the submarines will be built, but we want to make sure we have the best value for money and the best submarines available based on the best advice from the defence department,” he said. The Australian Industry Group has said the uncertainty would have ramifications for small companies that expected to be suppliers as a result of the pre-election commitment. The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union has also raised concerns, warning it could see jobs move overseas. Analysts say the government’s desire to save money could see the submarine hulls being built in Japan, with Australian firms fitting out the weapons and other systems. |