Shadow defence minister criticises government on Collins submarine decision

All six of the Australian Navy’s Collins-class submarines will be completely rebuilt to extend their life for another decade, according to a report in The Australian newspaper. Defence Minister Peter Dutton will order the whole Collins fleet to undergo the major life-of-type extension, doubling the initial Defence plan to extend just three boats, as a hedge against the fact that the first of 12 new French Attack-class submarines is not due to enter service until 2035, the paper reported. The plan, which will cost up to $10 billion, aims to guarantee that the submarine fleet does not fall below six boats into the future. However the slow delivery of the new French boats means the navy will not achieve its aim of having a fleet of 12 submarines until the 2050s. The move to refurbish the Collins fleet was criticised by Australia’s Shadow Minister for Defence Brendan O’Connor. “With the Future Submarine program in shambles, and half the world’s submarines expected to be in the Asia-Pacific region by 2035, the Morrison government has been forced to finally make a decision extending the life of the Collins Class submarines. The government was advised in December 2013 that the Collins Class needed their life extended to avoid a capability gap, and a decision on this matter needed to be made by mid-2015. Brendan O’Connor. “It’s taken six years and eight defence ministers for the government to make a decision on the Life of Type Extension on the Collins Class submarines. We welcome this belated decision, but you don’t get to make a virtue of filling a capability gap you created,” O’Connor said. “Given the woeful track record of this government, how can we possibly believe they will deliver any new plan? Now it seems the cost has blown out by at least $4 billion. The public estimate, revealed in Senate Estimates, was this would cost $3.5-$6 billion. The government needs to confirm this cost blow out and explain why. This is on top of the $40 billion blow out of the Future Submarines, which won’t be in the water until 2035.” O’Connor said the government doesn’t “get to boast about increased defence spending when it’s due to cost blow outs and mismanagement. There are also 700 workers on the Collins Class submarines in South Australia who have been waiting for an answer on the location of Full Cycle Docking, an announcement that was promised by the end of 2019. These workers need to know whether their jobs will be moved to Western Australian, and not left in limbo by this government. As prime minister and treasurer, Scott Morrison is the common thread with the bungling of these contracts and blow outs of costs and timelines. Australia can’t afford another three years of a Morrison Government that delays important national security decisions.” For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Kym Bergmann at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Director of Sales Graham Joss at [email protected]