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The Hon Pat Conroy MP
Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery
Minister for International Development and the Pacific
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23 July 2024
SUBJECTS: AUKUS, U.S. presidential election, safe disposal of nuclear waste, CFMEU
SKY NEWS HOST: Well, Navy chiefs from AUKUS nations are meeting in Australia to attend a defence conference this week. It's happening here in Perth. And joining me in the studio is the Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy. Appreciate your time. Thank you so much for joining us. There's one big story around the world at the moment, and that's U.S. politics. What is your view and what are you expecting to hear from these navy chiefs here in Perth over the next couple of days as to just how secure AUKUS is, or would be under a Trump presidency?
MINISTER FOR DEFENCE INDUSTRY PAT CONROY: Well, I think the navy chiefs will focus this very important conference on progress being made towards AUKUS already. For example, we expect Submarine Rotation Force West to be established in 2027. We've got an increased tempo of visiting U.S. nuclear powered but conventionally armed submarines going through regularly. And so this will be all about momentum towards our own Virginia class submarines and then building our own submarines for Australia, which is a massive uplift in our capability. In terms of what's happening in U.S. politics, we generally stay out of it. But I will make the point that I was there in Washington last year and witnessed the historic vote on the AUKUS legislation that got an 80% vote in the Senate and 75% in the House of Representatives. So, there's strong bipartisan support for AUKUS and that will continue through administrations, I'm confident, as it will continue in Australia and the United Kingdom through change of government.
SKY NEWS HOST: I interviewed former Labor leader, former US ambassador Kim Beazley a couple of months ago and he was suggesting there should be a third pillar of AUKUS focusing on critical minerals. As you would know, critical minerals, vitally important for the U.S. in terms of defence manufacturing. Is that a good idea?
MINISTER CONROY: Well, there's a strong commitment to critical minerals in the relationship between Australia and the United States. And in Prime Minister Albanese’s visit to the White House last year, significant announcements were made there. So, critical minerals is something we're working very closely with on the United States, as is the broader maritime security issues. I made a very significant announcement this morning about the transformation of the Australian army into unfocused on littoral manoeuvre that complements what the United States is doing in our region as well.
SKY NEWS HOST: Ok, explain that for our viewers. Littoral manoeuvre, what does that mean?
MINISTER CONROY: It means the ability to transport goods through the sea-land interface, amphibious movement, for want of a better word. We're transforming the Australian Army into one focused on long range strike and the ability to project power by moving further away. And I announced a very significant contract for Austal around building landing craft medium and landing craft heavy, that will transport the Australian Army throughout Australia and other places. And that means 1,100 new jobs for Western Australia and continuous naval shipbuilding in this fine state. So, that's a very significant announcement, delivering on the Defence Strategic Review and protecting the Australian people.
SKY NEWS HOST: Your government has been very keen to talk up the sub rotation that you referred to earlier happening in HMAS Sterling. There has been increasingly increasing concerns, though, by the communities nearby on the mainland of WA, Rockingham, for example, a suburb just on the coast there. In terms of what it's going to mean for their quality of life, there's a lot of concerns about what the infrastructure needs for what surrounds the influx of Americans coming here and working out of here, that there isn't enough services, health care, education, et cetera, to cater for that. Paul Garvey, in The Australian today, wrote about concerns around building a storage facility for low level radioactive waste at that naval base. Can you reassure Western Australians that their quality of life won't be impacted in a negative way?
MINISTER CONROY: Absolutely. They will not be negatively impacted. We're investing billions in renewed infrastructure to accommodate both Force West and housing our Virginia class submarines when they come. This means thousands of jobs for West Australians. And that's great news for that area just south of Perth. I think it's really good. People will be getting high skilled, well paid, secured jobs. People will be working maritime shipbuilding in that area for decades to come. They can raise families, pay off mortgages and so that's great news for those communities. In terms of that temporary storage facility for low level nuclear waste, this is akin to 100 other sites around the country. It's akin to what major hospitals have in terms of rubber gloves and other things that might have been used to handle medical imaging chemicals. So, there's no need to be alarmed. It's gone through the nuclear regulatory authorities and everything is very safe.
SKY NEWS HOST: Just finally, on another issue in domestic politics, the CFMEU and your government's handling of the issues surrounding that union, NSW liberals today calling for an ICAC investigation. What else can be done here? What is the next step? Is an ICAC investigation a good idea?
MINISTER CONROY: Well, we've been very clear that that behaviour is unacceptable and we're taking the strongest possible action. And the strongest possible action is appointing an administrator to administer the construction division of the CFMEU. That will root out what's been accused of happening, that will clean up the union and get it back to acceptable standards. All this other talk sounds hairy chested but what we're focused on is real solutions to get to the root of the problem, and that's appointing administrator and urging all police forces when they see wrongdoing to investigate and prosecute it, as we urge that in every part of our economy.
SKY NEWS HOST: But there's no role here. You don't think for a corruption body to look into it either at a state or federal level?
MINISTER CONROY: Well, if people have allegations, they should report them to ICAC in NSW or other agencies as appropriate. We've tasked the Australian Federal Police with working with their state counterparts to investigate where there's evidence. But an administrator coming into the CFMU to clean it up is the cleanest and strongest action. Most of what's been accused to have happened occurred under the last government and they did nothing. They talk about the ABCC. It did nothing to stop what's been accused. We're taking strong, direct action to root out unacceptable behaviour. Everyone else is looking for sort of distraction and politicking on it when we're focused on real solutions.
SKY NEWS HOST: Pat Conroy, I appreciate your time. Thank you.
MINISTER CONROY: My pleasure.
ENDS