Nick Xenophon says the Turnbull government must honour the Coalition promise to build Australia’s next fleet of submarines in Adelaide.
Even before Malcolm Turnbull was sworn in as prime minister, Senator Xenophon had put pen to paper congratulating him and calling for a clear message to be sent by announcing that the Future Submarines will be built in Australia.
“One of the very first decisions of the new Turnbull government has to be making good on the election promise to South Australia and Australia, by committing to build our next submarines in Adelaide,” Xenophon said.
The letter also asked for action in stemming “the 25,000 South Australian jobs expected to be lost with the departure of General Motors Holden as a car maker from Adelaide by the end of 2017”.
At least 150,000 jobs are at risk in Victoria with the departure of Ford, GMH and Toyota as car makers by the end of 2017.
“There’s a tsunami of job losses coming to SA and other states, and urgent action is needed now,” said Xenophon, who added that the leadership change presented an opportunity to revitalise the economy and create jobs.
Among the specific measures Senator Xenophon has called for is the amendment of the Automotive Transformation Scheme (ATS) which would enable car component companies to restructure around new products and services, and reforming the Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) Rebate to free up funds for an international marketing push, restoring profitability in the struggling sector.
Xenophon is also calling for “workable anti-dumping measures that provide real protections to Australian manufacturers from the sale of overseas-made goods at below the cost of production”, and the amendment of Commonwealth Procurement Laws with a strong ‘Buy Australian First’ policy.
South Australia will be a key battleground in the next federal election, with Xenophon saying he will field a team of candidates in the state’s 11 Lower House seats.
On Monday, just hours before Malcolm Turnbull launched his bid for the prime ministership, leaked internal Liberal polling had the Nick Xenophon Team second on primary vote in at least four of those seats.
