Today’s announcement by Scott Morrison that the Coalition has found $1 billion to invest in shipbuilding jobs in Western Australia to construct three naval vessels smacks of hypocrisy.
Mr Morrison’s announcement trumpeting more jobs for WA is really about shoring up the jobs of his WA Liberal MP mates who are in trouble in marginal seats.
Two major shipbuilding precincts at Henderson in WA and Osborne in South Australia are major employers of skilled shipbuilding workers and the Federal Government has shown little concern over the past three years as skilled shipbuilding jobs have been shed because of a lack of new work.
Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union assistant national secretary Glenn Thompson said Australia’s shipbuilding industry had been crying out for new work but had largely been ignored by Defence Minister Christopher Pyne.
“Suddenly, out of the blue, Scott Morrison comes up with a billion dollars for shipbuilding to build two mine support vessels and a hydrographic vessel.”
“If the Coalition was genuinely concerned about the Australian economy and maintaining skilled shipbuilding jobs it would not have waited until an election campaign to bring forward the planned replacement of the Huon-class mine hunters from the 2030s to the mid 2020s,” Mr Thompson said.
“Prime Minister Scott Morrison must think shipbuilders are mugs if he thinks they will cop last minute promises that are unlikely to be delivered within two terms of government if the Coalition is re-elected,” he said.
“Christopher Pyne announced the shipbuilding ‘valley of death’ was over in 2017 but did nothing about pulling forward planned shipbuilding programs so hundreds more jobs were lost and many hundreds more remain under threat.”
“Now we’ve got the politicians thinking about how to save their own jobs and rushing to find a program ten years into the future, suddenly pulling that work forward and claiming they care about the jobs of working people,” Mr Thompson said.
“Everyone agrees shipbuilding is a vital sovereign industrial capability which must be maintained to support our Defence forces.”
“While shipbuilders always welcome the announcement of new work, they also see through the breathtaking hypocrisy of this Government because they know urgent calls for new work have been ignored in the past.”
