 |
| Spanish F-100, base for the Hobart Class AWD (Wiki Info) |
The following is a response to the Minister for Defences Press Release HERE.
Defence Minister Stephen Smith is attempting to sugar coat delays to the air warfare destroyer program by pretending Labor is doing some sort of favour to the Defence industry rather than admitting it is all about the damaging budget cuts to Defence.
The timeline for the three AWD’s has been ‘moved to the right’ so Labor can take a further $100 million off the books in the forward estimates in another desperate attempt to preserve Wayne Swan’s elusive budget surplus, in what the Defence Minister dismisses as a mere ‘coincidence’.
Shadow Defence Minister David Johnston said on a day that should have been a celebration of the progress of the Air Warfare Destroyer program the Minister has rained on South Australia’s parade by slashing $100 million from the project.
“I am disappointed but not at all surprised by the announcement, as Labor had broken every promise it has made on Defence spending and mismanaged every project it had touched since 2007,” Senator Johnston said.
“After attempting to spin it to be all about jobs in South Australia he was forced to admit it is really about preserving the Government’s surplus and this is not the way to devise a national security strategy,” he said.
“Any logical reading of this announcement can only conclude that further jobs will be denied to the project and to Adelaide in particular.”
“If this Government had any concern for Defence industry and South Australian industry it would not have used the Defence portfolio as the sacrificial lamb in the May Budget, which took the biggest cut in funding in percentage terms since the end of the Korean War in 1953,” Senator Johnston said.
“The consequences of these cuts are now starting to hit the AWD project, which is meant to provide navy with a state of the art warship, and while the Minister assures us there will not be a capability gap he does not have a glowing record in that department when you remember the gap in our amphibious and supply ships and the delays with the future submarine decision.”
Senator Johnston said Defence industry has been on its knees since the 2009 White Paper promised long term annual funding and $275 billion in new equipment purchases, but then in every Federal Budget Labor simply did the opposite.
A total of $25 billion has been cut from Defence since the White Paper.
He said the Minister referred to the “valley of death” facing Australia’s Defence industry but does nothing to help the situation; instead he dresses up an announcement about more budget cuts as if it is a good news story for industry and for jobs.