Federal Defence Minister Kevin Andrews has returned fire at Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon, after the Labor member accused the Abbott government of decimating Australia’s sovereign shipbuilding capabilities earlier this week.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Mercury published a letter from Mr Fitzgibbon on Wednesday that accused the Coalition of inaction in relation to bolstering the industry since it took government.
But Mr Andrews said Mr Fitzgibbon, a former defence minister in the Rudd government, was trying to “spin his way through history”.
“This government, on the other hand, is fixing Labor’s defence mess – and doing it responsibly,” he said.
“The next time Mr Fitzgibbon wants to speak about these matters, he should check the facts first.”
The Hunter MP’s letter came after news last month that shipbuilding company Forgacs planned to axe 160 of 450 jobs from its Tomago facility.
Earlier this week, Mr Fitzgibbon wrote that Labor had launched a plan in 2013, while still in government, that would have maintained industry capacity, created jobs and helped Australia become a continuous and efficient shipbuilding nation.
“After the election, the Abbott government abandoned Labor’s plan and is decimating Australia’s sovereign shipbuilding capabilities,” he wrote.
But Mr Andrews said Labor had not commissioned the construction of a major naval vessel since 1989 and had cut $16 billion from the nation’s defence budget.