It’s D-Day for submarines as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull heads to Adelaide to announce the outcome of the Federal Government’s “Competitive Evaluation Process.”
The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, the “Shipbuilders’ Union,” has been campaigning since 2013 to have 12 submarines built in Adelaide in order to maintain our sovereign shipbuilding capability.
A local build will deliver the benefits a project estimated to cost up to $150 billion in the construction and sustainment phases can deliver to the Australian economy.
The AMWU’s campaign has always been about jobs for shipbuilders. That’s because we already have a highly skilled workforce here which is building new Air Warfare Destroyers for the Navy, and has recently completed the construction of two giant Landing Helicopter Docks (LHDs), HMAS Canberra and HMAS Adelaide.
A recent ReachTel poll commissioned by the Union found that 90 per cent of voters in Adelaide believe the submarines should be built locally.
A local build is critical in creating direct shipbuilding jobs and a building an effective supply chain for defence procurement in Australia. The future of the South Australian economy depends on new shipbuilding orders and the jobs that will be created by backing Australian shipyards instead of sending these jobs overseas.
Officials from the AMWU will be available to comment on the Federal Government’s announcement.
Media contact John Hill 0412197079