DAVE COCHRANE, PRESENTER: I thought we’d explore this announcement a little further. I am joined this afternoon by the Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific, the Shadow Minister Assisting for Defence, and Member for Shortland, Pat Conroy. Pat, what was your thoughts about the Prime Minister’s announcement of this this morning?
PAT CONROY, SHADOW MINISTER ASSISTING FOR DEFENCE: Well my initial reaction is this guy’s great at marketing to make an announcement about making an announcement in 2023 about a base that will be built in the 2030s. So it’s an interesting concept. If it actually happens then I obviously welcome the jobs, but I just think it’s more sort of policy on the run by Mr Morrison unfortunately.
COCHRANE: Is it a possibility of a reality for Newcastle, the Newcastle Port?
CONROY: Well certainly if you go by the media speculation then we’re apparently in the shortlist of three, but this is one of the problems with this entire project. So this submarines project is going to cost taxpayers well over $100 billion. It’s going to take 20-30 years to build the first submarine. It’s going to outlast many governments, and despite a commitment to keep the Opposition, to keep the Labor Party briefed on what’s happening, all we hear from the Government is these announcements when they pop out.
So look, Newcastle has got a great history of both shipbuilding and ship maintenance and in the broader defence industry. We should be very proud of that, and obviously if there’s opportunities out of this then that’s great for our region, but I am sorry for being a bit cynical about announcements about announcements about future contracts being made within 70 or 80 days of the next election.
COCHRANE: Pat, under the AUKUS deal, this fleet of nuclear-powered submarines which has been built under that AUKUS deal with the US and UK, is being considered, and they will need a house if they do get here. It is a long way off expectations of if they do come to fruition this does happen, but we’re talking about Newcastle playing a part in this. You’ve got the Local Government, Newcastle City Council, who back as far away as 1982 had a declaration of Newcastle as a nuclear free zone. And we are talking about a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines.
CONROY: Yeah, and that’s obviously an issue that no matter where they’re based will have to be dealt with, for example I know there’s an issue in the west as well. Labor has supported the decision to acquire nuclear-powered submarines. We recognise the strategic rationale for it. But basing issues and concerns about nuclear power on people’s doorsteps is something we are going to have to work through in this process. So it’s a significant issue, but I am satisfied and Labor is satisfied that there’s a strategic justification for going to nuclear-powered submarines.
COCHRANE: With this deal under the AUKUS arrangement that we have, how does the Opposition feel about that commitment to Australia’s defence?
CONROY: Well we support the deal, but this Government has been so ham-fisted in its approach. This is the third submarine option they’ve announced. They originally tried to get submarines from the Japanese. They then signed a contract with the French where the project blew out by 10 years and the cost of it went from $50 billion to $90 billion, and then the Government scrapped it after wasting $2.5 billion of taxpayers’ money.
So this is their third attempt at getting a submarine deal done. We support nuclear submarines as the right option for Australia, we’ve just got zero confidence in this Government being able to deliver it. We’re on our sixth Defence Minister in eight years. Like, goldfish last longer than Liberal Defence Ministers, and we’ve now got 30 major defence projects running cumulatively 79 years late. So we support nuclear submarines, but we’ve got zero confidence that this Government can deliver them unfortunately.
COCHRANE: Pat, an election hasn’t been called officially yet, but we are looking at in May, before May 21 we should go to the polls. We’ve got a very sensitive time on the world stage. We’ve got Russia invading Ukraine. We’ve got China sitting on the sidelines and watching and fears that they may try and take Taiwan. Other areas around the world are very sensitive, and we’ve got people, even though we haven’t had an announcement yet of going to the polls, people suggesting that we may have a brand new Prime Minister in May, with the Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese taking the helm. How do you feel, has discussions happened between you, between the Shadow Minister for Defence and where we’re standing with Australia at the moment and what your Government or Anthony Albanese’s Government would look at in what’s happening on the world stage at the moment?
CONROY: Well we announced several months ago that one of the first actions of an Albanese Labor Government would be conducting a Force Posture Review. And that sounds bureaucratic, but it’s about working with the Department for Defence and the ADF to make sure that we’ve got the defence capabilities that we need and that they’re in the right bases in terms of to handle any perceived threats. We think it’s about time that we had a look at that because you’re absolutely right that tensions are escalating. We’re in a very globally sensitive time, and we need to make sure that the ADF – our men and women in the Army, Navy, and Air Force – have all the equipment they need and it’s in the right place. So we’ve announced that, and that’s a really important thing that I know has been welcomed by the broader national security community.
What I am worried about at the moment is that this Government is intent on politicising national security for some sort of short-term political advantage. We saw that when Parliament last sat, we saw it with the public utterances when the truth is that there’s a complete bipartisan commitment to opposing the disgraceful actions of Russia invading Ukraine, and there’s a complete bipartisan commitment in calling China to account for its breaches of international law whether it’s in the South China Sea or their increasingly aggressive posture in the broader Pacific region. That is completely bipartisan.
So your listeners can be assured that no matter who is in power, there will be a strong and appropriate protection of our national interests vis a vis China. What we do need to fix up is defence procurement, because governments can talk about protecting Australia, but if they don’t actually spend the money wisely to make sure that we’ve got the equipment the ADF needs, then it doesn’t amount to much.
COCHRANE: Pat, has the Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese been vocal with his party members on how he would view a relationship with China?
CONROY: Absolutely, and Albo has been very clear about our approach to China. He’s made a number of foreign policy speeches that canvassed – so has Penny Wong, our Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister. We have been very clear in calling out behaviour that endangers global norms and global standards, international diplomatic standards. I just think that Mr Morrison is trying to scare people. He is looking for any wedge to try and ring a political advantage, and it’s just shrill and desperate and the Australian people see through it.
And you just have to look at the response from the ASIO chief, Mike Burgess and Dennis Richardson, the former head of ASIO and Department of Defence who called out this behaviour. Even Malcolm Turnbull called out this behaviour as a desperate and shrill attempt to politicise national security. It’s incredibly unfortunate. It is much too serious a matter for politics to be involved, but that’s where Mr Morrison has sunk to because he is incredibly desperate to get re-elected.
COCHRANE: With it being such a sensitive time at the moment with China and Australia’s relationship, going forward, how do you see the Port of Newcastle with a 99-year lease from China? What’s your thoughts on that and what could happen in that area?
CONROY: Well we opposed the lease of that Port for a multitude of reasons. Let’s not forget that leaving aside the national security obligations, the NSW Government promised that more than half of the proceeds from that would be spent in the Hunter and they breached that commitment. But it’s problematic as we observed, and even more problematic is the sale of the Port of Darwin that Mr Morrison oversaw as Treasurer. Through the Foreign Investment Review Board which reports to the Treasurer, Mr Morrison was directly responsible for allowing the Port of Darwin to be sold to the Chinese. It’s right next door to the Navy Port in Darwin. So that’s incredibly concerning to people, and when people talk about the relationship with China, that is the issue that’s raised most with me which is the sale of the Port of Darwin to China under this Government.
COCHRANE: Pat, has the Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese had a dialogue with you, his party members, about what more we could do to assist Ukraine in the Russian invasion there? Are sanctions enough?
CONROY: Well we’ve been very clear that we support what the Government is doing. We’ve said that the Government should be doing all that it can to support international efforts to place pressure on Vladimir Putin and Russia to pull back from this disgraceful action that is occurring right now. We’ve been very clear that if more sanctions are justified, if the Government comes out and says more sanctions are justified, we would support that. We completely support the provision of both lethal and non-lethal aid to Ukraine. I have met with members of the Ukrainian-Australian community like many of my colleagues, and if the Government thinks that more should be done then we will support that. This is a time for bipartisanship on this issue and that’s why Labor will be full-throatedly supporting any measures the Government proposes to support the people of Ukraine where they are clearly justified.
COCHRANE: Pat, we’re going to view a lot more – I imagine we will be seeing a lot more visits to the Newcastle and Hunter region over the next couple of months in the lead up to the election from the Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese. Are you suspecting that he will have some more good news or some more announcements for us in the lead up?
CONROY: Well I am hopeful that he will and I know that many of our Shadow Ministers will be visiting the region to make positive announcements for our area. Anthony Albanese made his first visit for the year of the election to the Hunter. His first big speech was on 2nd January and he did it at Cooks Hill Surf Life Saving Club because he recognises how important this region is to the nation. We are the powerhouse of Australia, and Albo is no stranger to the region. I am very hopeful that he could be coming up shortly to make other announcements as will senior members of this team.
But we’ve already made a series of strong commitments including a commitment to save the GP After Hours service which is a huge issue given this Government has cut funding to it and closed down the clinic at the Mater. We’ve also announced big funding for the Mandalong Road extension over Morisset way over the west side of Lake Macquarie. You can expect more announcements by us. But more important than individual announcements is that we live in this community, we are part of this community, we fight for this community. Labor MPs fight for this community every day because we know how important it is to the nation and how important it is to support families and pensioners in our area.