The Turnbull Government must take responsibility for todays announcement by Australian Submarine Corporation (ASC) of a further 175 job losses in its shipbuilding division.
These job losses are an avoidable consequence of the Governments complete failure to deliver a long-term ship building plan in Australia.
Our thoughts are with the workers and their families who will be affected by this decision.
The dithering, indecision and dysfunction inside the Abbott and Turnbull Governments led to the so-called valley of death and put the future of Australian shipbuilding jobs in jeopardy.
This Government has had three years to come up with a plan to develop a sustainable ship building program and protect Australian manufacturing jobs.
Building ships in Australia is more than just standing up at a press conference.
The shipbuilding industry needs the Prime Minister to commit to Australian jobs.
Its not good enough to talk big on shipbuilding just before an election. We need a detailed plan from the government for the Australian shipbuilding industry.
Labor will continue fighting for the jobs and economic growth that a thriving domestic manufacturing sector will deliver.