5AA

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

5AA - Mornings
25 February 2016

SUBJECTS: Shipbuilding in SA; Australian Car Manufacturing; Senate voting system.

Christopher Pyne: Good morning Leon.

Leon Byner: Now, this report talks about frigates, it talks about subs – what’s in it for South Australia?

Christopher Pyne: Well it’s the best news that South Australians would’ve heard for many years, because the speculation and the quite frankly scare mongering that has been carried on by some politicians in South Australia has proven to be utterly false. We will build 12 submarines if this Government is re-elected.

Leon Byner: Where?

Christopher Pyne: Well, the only place in Australia the submarines can be built is in Adelaide, and when the competitive evaluation process is complete, which everyone knows is going on in parallel with the Defence White Paper, exactly how much of that will be done in Adelaide will be clear. There are three bidders: Germany, Japan and France; all three have got bids that are overseas, hybrid and domestic. Whatever is built in Australia will be built in Adelaide, this means jobs and growth, twelve submarines.

Now, it’s important people don’t try and move the goalposts, because let’s not forget some politicians were saying we were only going to build eight submarines; some people were going to say we’re not going to build any submarines. The truth is, we were always going to build 12 submarines, and there are 12 submarines in this Defence White Paper. That is an ironclad guarantee. It is great news for Adelaide, and I’m not going to join any group that wants to be disheartened today, because this is good news.

Leon Byner: All right. What about the frigates? And the reason I ask you this, Chris, is because across Australia yesterday there was a lot of press speculation that WA were going to pick up a large amount of this work.

Christopher Pyne: Well, you have to look at the shipyards that can do the work. Now, people say a lot of things, but there’s only one shipyard in Australia that can build frigates and submarines, and that is Adelaide. Now, pretending they can be built somewhere else isn’t actually realistic. The Government is already committed to Adelaide building the nine frigates. When the air warfare destroyer job finishes, and there are still two to be delivered let’s not forget, there’ll be nine future frigates to be built, potentially- well, 12 submarines, potentially most of that build in Adelaide.

There is a pipeline of jobs. This is the first Government to commit to a continuous ship build into the future in Australia’s history. So our shipyards at Osborne will be busy, they’ll be employing South Australians and other Australians; people will move to Adelaide to work in ship building. This is good news.

Leon Byner: All right. Listen, stay on the line. Chris Burns, Defence Teaming Australia, your response to what you’ve just heard?

Chris Burns: That sounds extremely positive, and that’s what the industry has been looking for for some time, is some level of certainty that the construction will occur. We do have a pause between the end of the air warfare destroyer and the commencement of the future frigates, and the RAND report recommends building the initial batch of offshore patrol vessels, but that’s not just about keeping jobs, that’s about de-risking those projects so that you keep a linear flow of work. And the use of the term continuous ship-building is extremely positive, because that’s how you gain efficiencies, and that’s how you become so good that you become globally competitive.

Leon Byner: Chris, thank you. Now Chris, I want to ask you whilst you’re there, you’ve been very positive about the possibility of GMH and their asset at Northern Adelaide, down at Elizabeth that might be taken over by our Belgian philanthropist and businessman.

Christopher Pyne: Well I am Leon, and I met yesterday with Mark Bernhard, the CEO and chairman in Australia of General Motors Holden, and he and I had a very constructive discussion. And he assured me, because I sought his assurance, that they would do everything in their power at General Motors in Detroit to make this proposal work if it in fact is a viable proposal. It is early days, and I don’t want to raise peoples’ expectations, but then I don’t want the people of Elizabeth to grieve twice around the car industry. But the good news is that they will not be the reason that this proposal fails if it does fail, and I think that’s an important development because it means that General Motors is going to put their best foot forward, rather than create hurdles or dismiss the suggestion. They are going to be open-minded and work hard with Punch Corporation to see if it can happen, and the Commonwealth Government – and I’m sure the State Government for that matter – will do everything it can to assist in that.

Leon Byner: So just clarifying this, since we last spoke about this proposal, GMH have actually made a statement that gives you some faith that it’s a little more yes we might do it than it was when we last spoke?

Christopher Pyne: Well, the statement is that they will not be the reason that the proposal fails. Now, General Motors could be encouraging and supportive, or it could be discouraging and unhelpful; so they are erring on the side of being encouraging and supportive, and that’s the position I wanted them to be in. I made it perfectly clear to them that the Commonwealth Government will do its bit, but we’ll certainly be very disappointed – and we’ll make that well known to the public – if General Motors in Detroit does not do its best to make this proposal work. Now, if the proposal is not viable that’s nobody’s fault, but if the proposal is viable then General Motors will do its best to make it work. That’s good news.

Leon Byner: Okay. One question I’ve got to ask you, because as you know the national media listen to what’s going on on this program and many others, we had a bit of speculation recently about an early election. One of our commentators made the point, Professor Clement Macintyre, that there are Senate reforms that may well get up, and if they do the Government are hardly likely to put out of favour, if you like, a number of Senators that they would have to deal with for another three years. Is it your view that you either would like an early election, or would you rather the Government run its full term?

Christopher Pyne: Well the election is due in August-September, so if there was an election in July it wouldn’t be exactly an early election; it would be a month earlier than the term. So I don’t think the public would regard that as an early election.

Leon Byner: So is it being considered?

Christopher Pyne: Well, all options are on the table because the Senators, particularly the crossbenchers, have been extremely difficult with the Government’s agenda, even with things that we took to the last election like the Australian Building and Construction Commission and the Registered Organisations Commission. Now, the public voted for those to occur and the Senators are blocking them, and they’re now talking this week about withdrawing their support because of the changes to the Senate voting system. Now, I would’ve thought a crossbencher who was worth their salt would rather go out and achieve the quota necessary to get elected, than actually try and continue the system that games the voting system so that you can get elected with half a per cent of the vote.

Leon Byner: Christopher, thank you for joining us. That’s the Federal Industry Minister on a couple of important issues for SA of course, the frigates, the subs, and indeed whether or not the Holden plant can move in another direction and be harnessed to run a business of going concern.

[ends]