The Prime Minister has sold out Victoria’s ship building industry and a thousand Victorian workers to shore up marginal seats in South Australia, Queensland and Western Australia ahead of the upcoming federal election.
The Andrews Labor Government has repeatedly called on both the Abbott and Turnbull Government’s to build the Navy’s Offshore Patrol Vessels at the BAE shipyards in Williamstown.
This would have saved 1,000 jobs and kept our ship building capability and industry alive and strong in Victoria.
Instead, the Coalition Government has played politics with the lives of a thousand Victorian workers and their families in awarding this contract to South Australia, with flow on work to Queensland and Western Australia.
Victoria has repeatedly called for a national approach to building Navy frigates that draws on the collective skills of each state, with Australian builds and targets set for Australian content to boost the economy and create jobs.
Victoria has the biggest defence industry in Australia and should be given a fair share of the work on national defence projects.
Instead, Malcolm Turnbull has sold out Victoria’s ship building industry just as Tony Abbott sold out Victoria’s auto manufacturing industry.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Industry Lily D’Ambrosio
“A thousand Victorian jobs are gone and even more are at risk because the Prime Minister is desperately trying to save his political skin in South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland.
“This is continuity without any change – Malcolm Turnbull has abandoned Victorian workers just like Tony Abbott.
“Victoria has the biggest defence industry in Australia and it’s time we received our fair share of work on national defence projects.”
Reviewed 19 August 2020