On the 24th of February, the defence industry welcomes reports the Defence White Paper will be released this week with twelve submarines and nine Future Frigates to be delivered.
However, the defence sector also reaffirms that if Australia’s Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) are not built in Adelaide, the Future Frigates project will be put at risk of cost blowouts and delays.
Chris Burns, national spokesperson for the Australian Made Defence campaign said the Federal Government’s own RAND report on naval shipbuilding provided a framework the Government should follow to guarantee the sustainability of the Future Frigates project.
“If the Federal Government is genuinely committed to a continuous build philosophy they should comply with the RAND report to deliver cost savings and efficiencies for Australian taxpayers,” said Mr Burns.
The RAND Report recommended that OPVs must be built in the same location as Future Frigates to efficiently transfer skills into those projects, mitigate cost blowouts and provide savings to the taxpayer. As of August 2015, the Federal Government committed to building Future Frigates in Adelaide.
“The most efficient way to utilize our workforce is to seamlessly flow workers from the Air Warfare Destroyer onto the OPV project and eventually Future Frigates,” said Mr Burns.
“If the Federal Government ignores this strategy it will risk the project encountering cost blowouts and delays. RAND’s recommendations are the most sustainable way to ensure the Navy gets the capabilities it requires as soon as possible, and at the best possible price.
“Ultimately, the aim of the defence industry is to provide our troops with the best possible equipment and technologies they need to perform their duty – to protect our borders, our interests and our people. Without a continuous shipbuilding plan it will be difficult to achieve this.
“If OPVs start in 2017, as the Air Warfare Destroyer project is winding down, we can transfer those skills to OPVs, then on to Future Frigates and Future Submarines, that’s how you can achieve a continuous build philosophy.
“If OPVs, frigates and submarines are built in Adelaide, resources would have to be drawn from other states, as evidenced by the Air Warfare Destroyer build – spreading the benefits of these projects across different states.
“If we don’t follow RAND recommendations the AWD workforce will dissipate before the Frigate project is kicked off.
“If we have to rebuild the workforce and the skills from scratch, it is Australian taxpayers who will wear the costs,” said Mr Burns.
