LINDA REYNOLDS
MINISTER OF DEFENCE
Interview with Gareth Parker on 6PR Radio Perth
GARETH PARKER:
The Federal Defence Minister is Linda Reynolds and there’s a range of issues we want to get through with her. She joins me on the program. Minister, good morning.
LINDA REYNOLDS:
Good morning, Gareth.
GARETH PARKER:
Thank you for your time. There’s quite a debate happening now about this Meritorious Unit Citation. Three thousand Special Forces soldiers were awarded this citation. There had been an announcement from the Chief of Defence that that would be stripped, although it does seem as though that’s yet to happen. Do you have an opinion on this? Where do you stand on it?
LINDA REYNOLDS:
Well, look, Gareth, I think there’s a couple of points to make. The first one is that what’s called the Meritorious Unit Citation is awarded to recognise the collective actions and also the accomplishments of a unit as a whole, and the Chief of Army did address this issue earlier on this week. But can I just say from my perspective there are so many members of the Special Operations Task Group, they have demonstrated such great courage and commitment and, you know, big elements of the task group have had considerable achievements.
So I, and also the Prime Minister, really understand this is a sensitive topic and that any proposed action on the Meritorious Unit Citation will be considered as part of a broader implementation plan by the CDF. Since the CDF made his initial comments on this he has assured me that he has not made a final decision on this issue and he is giving it further consideration, as am I and the Prime Minister. So we’ve been listening to so many veterans and still serving service personnel. So no decision yet, and we are really taking the feedback very seriously.
GARETH PARKER:
Who will actually make the decision?
LINDA REYNOLDS:
Well, it’s actually an issue for General Campbell to make and to make a recommendation to the Governor-General, but he has not done that yet, and he has assured me that he is considering this issue further now.
GARETH PARKER:
But he sounded pretty adamant when he announced that that’s what his intention was. Obviously the ground has shifted.
LINDA REYNOLDS:
Well, there’s been a lot of – Gareth, I think if we just take a step back. As I said and as the Prime Minister said before the CDF released the report publicly, this is an incredibly complex, sensitive issue, and it’s something that certainly no minister, Prime Minister or CDF has dealt with in our living memory. So we are working through a series – a large series of very complex, very sensitive and also really important issues for our nation.
So the CDF did make some statements upfront. He’s assured me he is considering those further in light of the feedback that he and the Prime Minister and I have received. And he will review that further. So we are listening. But, you know, there is no guidebook for this.
GARETH PARKER:
Sure, but –
LINDA REYNOLDS:
That’s why the Prime Minister and I set up those two – the Office of Special Investigator and also the oversight panel.
GARETH PARKER:
Right, but is this the Prime Minister and you interfering in that process, in that decision of the Chief of the Defence Force?
LINDA REYNOLDS:
No, not at all. But we certainly have a responsibility on behalf of the Australian people to listen and also to express an opinion to the Chief of Defence Force, which is what we have done.
GARETH PARKER:
Okay.
LINDA REYNOLDS:
And he is now considering further. So my understanding – well, not my understanding the process, not just the CDF but Defence are following is they are now taking the time to get the implementation process itself right, and he will make further comments about that in due course.
GARETH PARKER:
Okay. The point is, as you say, that this is for the meritorious service of an entire unit, and the point’s been made repeatedly and I think it can’t be stressed enough that we’re talking about a very small minority of soldiers here who are accused of doing the wrong thing. But can a unit be considered to have served meritoriously if it’s accused, credibly accused of war crimes?
LINDA REYNOLDS:
Well this is what – again, this is what we need to consider carefully and to make sure that all of the points of view are taken into consideration. And then the CDF will do what is right. And, again, as I say, this is unchartered territory given the scale and the nature of the allegations. And as I’ve said publicly, there has clearly been a failure of leadership in the special forces command, in army and more widely across Defence. So these are big issues Gareth. They need to be tackled, but they need to be tackled properly.
GARETH PARKER:
The other issue that, of course, is running is the future of the full cycle maintenance of the Collins Class submarines. The West Australian government have been campaigning for this work to come here to Henderson for some time and they’ve sort of put renewed juice into that effort last week with a new national advertising campaign. I spoke to Paul Papalia, the Defence Issues Minister for Western Australia about that last week. They want a decision. They say that you’re dragging your heels.
LINDA REYNOLDS:
Well, Gareth, context and the history matters a great deal in relation to most things and particularly in relation to Henderson. I have been a tireless advocate for ship building and sustainment at Henderson and at the Australian Marine Complex and the Federal Government is delivering. So I think it is a bit duplicitous, if I can use that word, of the minister to focus on one aspect of it that may or may not happen for many years and actually to ignore what we’ve already done. So can I just give you an idea of what the federal government has been doing over the last four years.
We’ve committed to building 45 vessels at Henderson worth $16 billion. Austal is now building 21 Guardian Class patrol boats and also six Cape Class patrol boats and employing over 500 West Australians. Luerssen Australia and Civmec are building 10 really large what we call 10 Arafura off shore patrol vessels employing more than 200 workers with at least 300 local companies in their supply chain. The Warship Asset Management Alliance centred on BAE down at Henderson is sustaining and upgrading our entire fleet of Anzac frigates which, again, is supporting over many years 200 workers.
So in addition to that $16 billion of investment we’re investing $1.5 billion in naval infrastructure in Western Australia, including current $376 million for work at HMAS Stirling, which is almost complete. Now over at Stirling we’re modernising the infrastructure like wharves, power, water, security system upgrades, which is the work that is desperately needed now at Henderson. And so we are doing – and, in fact, I announced a new maritime underwater tracking range worth more than $300 million just two weeks ago. And that will be built in Western Australia.
GARETH PARKER:
Okay, so you’re basically saying that you’re pulling your weight here?
LINDA REYNOLDS:
Well, I think we’re more than pulling our weight. We’re currently investing $170 million to develop a capability centre at Henderson. Now I have been talking with Paul Papalia and with my predecessor, Christopher Pyne. We’ve been meeting, we’ve been exchanging letters and agreements on what needs to be done at the Henderson Australian Marine Complex. They urgently need remediation work. We need high load wide corridors, we need road upgrades, we need power utilities upgraded, we need better worker access, car parks and transport, we need project facilities.
We desperately need more docks and waterfront infrastructure. And we need all of these facilities which two and a half years ago Paul Papalia agreed it needed to be done. Now this is a State Government facility. We, the Commonwealth, are putting billions of dollars, in fact, already into these facilities and into upgrades, but the simple fact is that the facility is tired and it needs work. And that is the responsibility of the State Government fairly and squarely, Gareth.
GARETH PARKER:
So if that work is not done does that rule out Western Australia from the Collins Class maintenance?
LINDA REYNOLDS:
Well, it’s not – no, it’s not directly applicable, but my point is this, Gareth: for years we have been discussing the State Government what needs to be done. We have absolutely delivered and, in fact, we’ve delivered far more than we said we would initially, and the state government to the best of my knowledge has spent not a cracker, not a cent in Henderson over the last two and a half years. And they need to do it.
GARETH PARKER:
Just before I let you go, when will this decision on the Collins Class maintenance be made, because it was due about this time last year?
LINDA REYNOLDS:
Well, look, Gareth, Australia’s submarines is one of our most strategically important capabilities, and we are now – we now have a very, very capable submarine in the Collins Class, which is only halfway through its life. And we are looking at the entire submarine endeavour, which goes over 50 years. And we’re making all of the decisions at the right – all of them at the right stage at the right time. Now even if a decision was made tomorrow on the future location we’re still talking about many years before it would happen.
And for some reason Paul Papalia thinks there’s 3,000 jobs. Well somehow he’s managed to add a zero, because by our calculations we’re talking 300 workers where we have already through our projects, through the $16 billion of ship building, we have already employed hundreds if not thousands. In fact, through the supply chain thousands of Western Australians.
GARETH PARKER:
Okay.
LINDA REYNOLDS:
So this is a political campaign for the next state election, and I think Paul Papalia and the State Government is doing all West Australians a great disservice by focusing on something that may or may not happen in many years and not actually doing what needs to be done today for jobs today.
GARETH PARKER:
Linda Reynolds, thank you for your time. I appreciate it.
LINDA REYNOLDS:
Any time. Thank you, Gareth.
GARETH PARKER:
The Defence Minister, Linda Reynolds. So having a fair old whack at Paul Papalia and the state government there over this – well, a range of issues to do with Defence ship building. I suspect the state minister may want to respond.
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