The Hon. David Speirs, Leader of the Opposition (SA), Media Release, 30 July 2023
Leader of the Opposition David Speirs will travel to the United Kingdom to strengthen relations with our AUKUS partner and attend a high-powered roundtable on nuclear energy.
The overseas study tour is a bipartisan trip after an offer from Premier Peter Malinauskas following his own AUKUS-related UK visit earlier in the year.
During the week-long trip Mr Speirs will meet with senior defence officials, give a keynote speech at a business event, visit key defence manufacturing sites including the Barrow-in-Furness nuclear submarine construction yard and attend a nuclear energy roundtable lunch.
Barrow-in-Furness is where Astute-class submarines are built for the Royal Navy, and along with Osborne, will be the only other shipyard to construct the new AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines.
The Opposition Leader will also tour MacTaggart Scott’s facility in Edinburgh, Babcock Marine’s site at Rosyth and BAE Systems shipyard in Glasgow.
Mr Speirs said the trip was an important fact-finding mission which would help further strengthen ties with South Australia and the United Kingdom.
“The AUKUS defence agreement was an historic moment for South Australia which provides our state with significant economic opportunities for decades to come,” Mr Speirs said.
“This is a multi-decade agreement which is why it’s critical we put politics aside and approach this in a bipartisan way that gets the best outcomes for South Australians.
“Throughout the AUKUS agreement it is critical that we have a pipeline of non-stop naval shipbuilding in South Australia, from the Life of Type Extension for all six of the Collins Class fleet, the hunter frigates, right through to the construction of nuclear-powered submarines.
“This is non-negotiable from a South Australian point of view and I will be highlighting the strengths of our manufacturing industry and helping cement our place as the Defence State and home of AUKUS in Australia.
“This trip will allow me to see firsthand the work that is needed to transition our workforce to develop the skills required to build nuclear submarines in Adelaide for generations to come.
“With nuclear submarines to be built in South Australia it is also an opportune time to have mature conversations about the role nuclear energy could play in our state in the future.
“As the world moves towards net zero, nuclear energy has the potential to deliver reliable and affordable electricity without any carbon emissions. This is why I am pleased to be able to attend a nuclear energy roundtable in London where I will be able to learn from some of the biggest and brightest minds in the industry.”
