20:25
The first submarine in the government’s $90bn submarine program must be built in Australia, according to Ronald Finlay of the naval shipbuilding expert advisory panel.
Labor’s Senate leader, Penny Wong, has been grilling officials about the provisions in the strategic partnering agreement between Australia and France’s Naval Group, which the government has said requires the company to “spend at least 60% of the contract value in Australia over the life of the program”.
Wong wants to know if this means the first boat could be made in France, not Australia.
Finlay says there would be risks to the shipbuilder if they changed suppliers from ship 1 to ship 2, so the target would be getting into Australian contact as soon as possible to reduce risks. Finlay then makes a more definitive statement:
The first ship will be built in Australia … There is a requirement for ship 1 to be built in Australia.
What about the hull?
Greg Moriarty, the defence department secretary, says: “We are seeking to build as much of the hull in Australia as we can.”
Moriarty adds a caveat on a particular part of the hull:
The government’s clear intent is, if it is technically feasible, we will build it in Australia. If it’s not we will seek technical advice on where that hull part is best made.
Updated
20:25
Nine Entertainment has told the stock exchange its multimillion-dollar deals with Google and Facebook under the government’s news media bargaining code have been signed.
Along with other changes in the business including subscription revenue, Nine expects growth in the publishing division to be between $30m and $40m over the 2021-22 financial year. Nine said:
The deal with Facebook is for the supply of news video clips and access to digital news articles on Facebook news products, for a term of up to 3 years with a minimum amount payable over the term.
The 5-year agreement with Google includes the supply of news content (excluding video) for Google’s News Showcase and other news products. Google will also expand its marketing initiatives across Nine’s platforms. The amount payable is a fixed annual fee with modest growth in the early years.
Updated
20:10
Back in defence estimates, the Labor senator Kimberley Kitching says AusTender contract notices indicate the government will spend $5.45m over three years on remuneration for members of the naval shipbuilding expert advisory panel.
Kitching says that works out to be about $1.8m a year, shared among six members. She suggests this is a higher rate than the former naval shipbuilding advisory board members received.
Officials caution that there is a daily rate, so it will depend on work performed. Officials also suggest the estimates include international flights and hotels but they are not spending anything near that rate, due to the Covid-induced move to virtual meetings.
The defence department has committed to clarify the details later in the day.
