Press Conference, Henderson

SUBJECTS: Henderson Defence Precinct; ADF Recruitment; AUKUS

MINISTER FOR RESOURCES, MADELEINE KING: Well, good morning, everyone, and thanks so much for coming down to Henderson here today in the great state of Western Australia. My name’s Madeleine King, I’m the federal member for Brand. And it really is my delight on what is a really momentous occasion to welcome Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles, the Minister for Defence Personnel and Veterans’ Affairs Matt Keogh, of course the Premier of Western Australia Roger Cook, and the Minister for Defence Industry Richard – sorry, Paul Papalia, some of the local members and also David Scaife, one of the local members for the Western Australian parliament, as well as the Chief of Navy and the Head of the Australian Submarine Agency. Today we’re here to talk about – and I’ll hand over soon to the Deputy Prime Minister – the cooperation agreement with the federal government and the State of Western Australia. 

This is a really big day. It’s a big day for my hometown of Rockingham, for Roger’s hometown of Kwinana, for Paul’s electorate down in Warnbro and the south of this place and, indeed, for all of Western Australia. You cannot underestimate the significance of this agreement between the federal and state government that will see continuous shipbuilding and maintenance of naval craft here, right in Henderson, in Western Australia. It will bring an enormous opportunity for jobs, more jobs and a great future for young people for generations to come here in the great state of Western Australia. With that, I’m going to hand over to the Deputy Prime Minister to speak about this really amazing announcement on a great day. 

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER, RICHARD MARLES: Thank you, Madeleine. It’s an enormous honour to be here this morning with the Premier of Western Australia Roger Cook, state Minister for Defence Industry Paul Papalia, our own Minister for Resources Madeleine King, who is really here on behalf of herself and Josh Wilson as well as the local members in this region. We’re also here with the Minister for Defence Personnel Matt Keogh and local member – well, we’ve got local state members here, actually, in the Premier and David Scaife. 

It is an enormous honour to be here with the Premier of Western Australia to announce the establishment of the Henderson Defence Precinct. Since coming to power our government has made two critical announcements in relation to defence industry for Western Australia. The first was making clear that our future nuclear-powered submarine capability delivered under the banner of AUKUS would principally operate from Western Australia, from HMAS Stirling. But as part of that, we will see the establishment of the Submarine Rotational Force West operated principally by the United States in just three years’ time. 

Now, to deliver that we have already committed $8 billion over the course of the decade for infrastructure work at HMAS Stirling. Earlier this year as we announced our response to the Surface Fleet Review and we announced our future surface fleet requirements and how our fleet would be built, our government for the first time committed to continuous naval shipbuilding in Perth, continuous naval shipbuilding right here at Henderson. And as part of that we have seen Austal announced as the strategic shipbuilder for the commonwealth in Western Australia. And we’ve committed to building the army landing craft medium and the army landing craft heavy right here at Henderson. 

Now, when we announced the Defence Strategic Review and from that the National Defence Strategy what was clear was that a precondition for all of this happening was a consolidation of the Henderson strip, to create a defence precinct. And today we are announcing that that consolidation will see the establishment of the Henderson Defence Precinct here at the southern end of the strip, which will include the common user facility, indeed, the spot on which we are standing right now will be part of the future Henderson Defence Precinct. 

And this is a huge announcement in the context of Australia’s defence capabilities. It is on this spot that we will be building our future general purpose frigate. It’s on this spot that we will be building our future LOSVs. But this spot will also have a critical contribution to make in terms of AUKUS and the operation of our nuclear-powered submarines. Because today we are also announcing that the sustainment and the maintenance of our future nuclear-powered submarines will happen right here in Western Australia, will happen right here at the Henderson Defence Precinct. 

Again, this is a really significant decision. But it’s a very clear decision because it matters that this work occurs close to where we operate our nuclear-powered submarines. And so, Henderson is the perfect spot. 

This announcement on its own will see here in respect of just the maintenance of submarines around 3,000 ongoing jobs as people work on these submarines going forward. And so it is a really significant part of the equation of how we achieve a nuclear-powered submarine capability in this country. 

This precinct will also provide for the sustainment and maintenance of our surface fleet. And there will be the necessary infrastructure here to be able to maintain the largest ship in our fleet. And that will include dry docks – plural. There’ll be a necessity to establish dry docks here in order to be able to maintain both our future submarines and our future surface fleet. 

In total, when you look at what we are doing with HMAS Stirling and what we’re doing here at the Henderson Defence Precinct, this will support 10,000 jobs. In an ongoing sense, the Henderson Defence Precinct will be a precinct in which thousands of people are working on an ongoing basis. 

I really want to thank the Western Australian government for their work in enabling us to arrive at this moment. I also want to thank Civmec and Austal who, through their MOU, opened the door for the ability for us to announce that the consolidation of the Henderson precinct would happen here at the southern end of the strip. 

Today you’ve just seen the Premier and I sign a cooperation agreement. This is an agreement between the commonwealth and the state government of Western Australia, an agreement which will facilitate the delivery of this precinct. 

In total this represents the most significant defence industry offering to Western Australia since federation. In total, what this represents is the biggest diversification of the Western Australian economy that we have seen in decades. And I really am deeply grateful to both Roger and Paul, who are good friends but, more importantly, great partners personally and through their government with ours in delivering what will be a generational opportunity for Western Australia and a critical capability for our nation. 

PREMIER OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA, ROGER COOK: Thank you, Deputy Prime Minister. Look, today is an historic day for Western Australia, a day that sets our state up for the future. Today’s announcement represents the biggest Defence investment in Western Australia’s history. With the stroke of a pen, we are standing up a significant new industry in WA which will significantly propel our policies to develop and diversify the Western Australian economy. It’s a game changer. And it will deliver significant economic, social and other benefits to the people of Western Australia. 

The defence precinct at Henderson represents something that Western Australia has already known – that this is a great place for industry, it’s a great place for investment, and it’s a great place to continue to grow the Australian economy. And it’s proof that the rest of Australia now also acknowledges this fact. 

Today is the start of a bold journey for Western Australia, one that will see tens of billions of dollars invested in the state, one that will generate approximately 10,000 jobs. That includes around three and a half thousand jobs across the water at HMAS Stirling, around a thousand construction jobs here at Henderson, plus 3,000 jobs for depot-level maintenance at Henderson, around 1200 for surface fleet jobs and around 1,100 jobs working on landing craft. 

Establishing a continuous shipbuilding program, continuous shipbuilding and submarine maintenance industry right here at Henderson shows that my government is delivering on our mission to develop and diversify the Western Australian economy. It vindicates our mission which we’ve been absolutely committed to since 2017 to grow the defence industry here in Western Australia. And I want to acknowledge the great work by Minister Paul Papalia here in continuing to pursue this strategy, this objective. 

Today we reach a major goal, a major milestone in that program. Our state is on the cusp of an exciting new chapter. Through the development of the Henderson Defence Precinct and the maintenance and sustainment of the nuclear sub fleet, this particular industry will rival the resources industry as one of our main areas for economic growth, for economic activity and for employment. 

Our focus is to create great Western Australian jobs. And what you will see created here are jobs that will last into the future, generation after generation, people undertaking their entire careers through apprenticeships, senior work and management, all in this particular precinct. 

It doesn’t matter which way you cut this, the scale of this project is daunting and it’s mind-boggling, and we are so excited. We’re working with our friends in the Commonwealth government in partnership to create the Henderson Defence Precinct, which will be a major contributor to our economy, a major contributor to the national economy, and a major contributor to the AUKUS partnership as we continue to make sure that Western Australia plays its role. 

Can I just thank the Deputy Prime Minister for his leadership and his team for their great work. This [indistinct] through the Defence Strategic Review and is now bringing to life a bold vision for the next defence chapter in Western Australia – in Australia’s history. 

We are so proud in the Western Australian government to be part of this great story and we’ll continue to work hard to make sure that the Henderson Defence Precinct is major piece of our defence program and a major success for the people of Western Australia. 

Once again, thank you to all involved. Thank you [indistinct], and through the stroke of a pen today, the Deputy Prime Minister and myself ushered in a new [indistinct] Western Australia. We’re very excited about the opportunities. I’ll now hand over to [indistinct]. 

MINISTER FOR DEFENCE INDUSTRY, PAUL PAPALIA: Look, Western Australia is already the engine room of the nation’s economy. Now it’s going to be the powerhouse of our defence industry. This agreement today will result in Western Australia being the home of the biggest naval maintenance hub in the entire southern hemisphere. It’s an extraordinary announcement. It’s a historic moment, as has been acknowledged by the Deputy Prime Minister and the Premier. It means multi-generational opportunities for Western Australians but also it means that WA will have the backs of our Defence Force. 

When our navy, when our personnel go overseas in harm’s way, they’ll go knowing that we’ve got their backs. It is an extraordinary moment. It means that Western Australia, this place, Perth, will be like some of the other places you go in the world where they have – for long many generations have had shipbuilding and submarine maintenance as a prime opportunity for people to seek a career. 

If you go to places like Barrow in the UK or Devonport or Newport News in the United States, you can find families who’ve had five generations engaged in this activity. That’s the sort of opportunity we can now look forward to here in Western Australia, unlimited continuing opportunity and certainty for industry to be able to invest in infrastructure and technology and their workforce knowing that there will be a continued demand ongoing into the future. 

The Albanese Government have done what no other federal government has been able to do. We at state level for eight years have been campaigning for continuous shipbuilding to be dedicated to Western Australia. And also for depot-level maintenance of submarines to take place here. The Albanese Government have made those decisions in the national interest, and now Western Australia will be the home of nuclear submarine sustainment and also continuous naval shipbuilding through our strategic shipbuilders here in WA. Those are extraordinary outcomes, but they are outcomes that we set as an objective right back in 2017 when we created a portfolio. We appointed a minister, we created an office and we appointed a defence advocate on behalf of defence industry in Western Australia. The very next year we published a defence industries strategic plan which had as its primary objectives making Western Australia is the key location for sustainment of nuclear – of submarines and frigates. That has come to pass. 

It is a consequence of our defence industry being able to be beneficiaries of skills and capabilities that are derived from meeting the demands of offshore oil and gas and mining and being able to apply them in the national interest to defence. It’s a wonderful to thing to see it come to fruition. And now the real hard work starts as we build this huge national endeavour. 

JOURNALIST: When will the contingency dock be in place? Will it be in time for the sub rotational force 2027? And the artist impressions show not one but four dry docks. So does it blow Scott Morrison’s previous promise out of the water? 

MARLES: Well, there’s a couple of things in that. Firstly, as we have worked with the United States around the Submarine Rotational Force West, one of the critical components of being able to operate submarines from HMAS Stirling is that we do have a sustainment and maintenance capability. That involves both a contingency capability, as you just described, but also ultimately a depot-level capability, which is really a deeper level of maintenance where a submarine would be in a dry dock environment. 

The timing of the development of the capability here at Henderson aligns with the requirements that will be placed upon us in terms of starting the Submarine Rotational Force West. To be clear, that does not mean that the contingency arrangements need to be in place by 2027, but there is a timing around it and in the years following that the contingency will need to be there and we will be aligning with that timing. 

In terms of the number of dry docks, there will be dry docks, plural. We know that. And we know the scale of the infrastructure here is measured in billions. We have as part of today’s announcement committed 127 million over the next three years to do the initial works in respect of this. And part of that is the detailed design. The truth of it is that it’s really the doing of the detailed design which will give us the firm costing in respect of the total project, but it will also answer the question as to what our needs are exactly in terms of the number of dry docks. So that is a question when will be determined as we do that design work over the course of the next few months. 

JOURNALIST: It’s a big investment. Do you have any concerns that it could all be for nothing following the American – the US elections in 20-odd days’ time? 

MARLES: No, I don’t. And the reason I don’t is because if you look at, you know, both camps in the upcoming US election, there is support for both the alliance with Australia and our key equities in it, most significantly of which is AUKUS and Australia acquiring a nuclear-powered submarine capability, and that’s guessing at that. If you look at the legislation that was passed in the United States and also the complementary legislation that was passed in our parliament to create a seamless defence industrial base between our two nations, the raft of legislation that went through the United States Congress at the end of last year enjoyed support across the entire political spectrum of the United States – Democrats, Republicans, Trump Republicans. So if you actually look at, you know, the voting actions of everyone across the American political spectrum, it demonstrates support for AUKUS. And so we will watch what happens in America. It’s obviously a matter for the American people, but we do so with a sense of confidence that whatever the outcome there will be support for AUKUS. 

JOURNALIST: If you look at the history of Trump, it’s not uncommon – it hasn’t been uncommon for him to talk down alliances, you know, with traditional partners. I mean, it could all be for – you know what I’m getting at. 

MARLES: There is a standard answer here, but the answer actually on this occasion has a track record. I mean, we will answer this question typically by saying that our alliance is deep and institutional and it transcends whoever is in the White House in Washington, whoever is the Prime Minister in Australia. That is actually true. But the track record here is there’s been a President Trump, and the alliance throughout the period of the Trump administration previously was maintained and was supported. And, as I said, when you look at the actions of Trump Republicans – and we’re focusing on that - it has been in support. So whether we are looking at a future President Trump or a future President Harris, we do so with a sense of confidence that AUKUS will be absolutely supported by a future American administration. 

JOURNALIST: What do you say to the South Australians today who may feel that their state is the biggest loser from this event? 

MARLES: Well, I mean, what we’re investing in South Australia is generational as well. In South Australia we will be building our future submarines. In South Australia we are building our future frigates. In South Australia we continue the maintenance of Collins Class submarines. The Osborne naval shipyard in time there will be in the order of 7,000 people working there in the construction of our future surface fleet and the construction of our future submarines and the maintenance of our existing submarines. The truth of the matter here is it’s not a competition between WA and South Australia. In terms of what the nation needs, we actually need to be engaging the workforces of both states. And that’s really at the heart of our announcement today. Acquiring a nuclear-powered submarine capability, building our own submarines, aside from anything else it’s the biggest industrial project in our nation’s history. You know, it’s bigger than the Snowy Hydro. And so in order to achieve that, we simply have to be engaging our industrial base both in South Australia and in Western Australia and, in truth, across the nation. Because as we build submarines in South Australia, we will be drawing upon companies all across the country, including here in Perth, that will be contributing to that supply chain. 

JOURNALIST: Reports have put the infrastructure investment anywhere between 12 and $20 billion. Do you expect that to be an accurate figure? 

MARLES: As I said earlier, we will be – we’ve invested 127 million as part of today’s announcement over the next three years to commence works. And part of that is the detailed design. And the detailed design work will answer that question. And we really need to wait for that. But what I’d make clear – and, again, this perhaps goes back to the earlier decision – the earlier question in relation to the Morrison government announcements – the former government was in the habit of making big announcements without putting a dollar behind them. It turns out you can’t take a press release to [indistinct]. And that’s what the former government was trying to do. 

And so there was no money at all put aside by the former Morrison Government for the building of anything in Western Australia. When we announced the optimal pathway to acquire a nuclear-powered submarine capability in March of last year, we provisioned $9 billion across the forward estimates. From where we stand today, there’s $63 billion provided for across the next decade for the delivery of AUKUS. That’s actually in the budget. And our expectation is that the cost of acquiring this capability will be about 0.15 per cent of GDP enduring. And the building of this infrastructure here will be within that. 

JOURNALIST: Where do you find the workers for this, given you’ve already got low unemployment here? 

MARLES: Yeah, look, that’s a really good question, and I think the challenge of workforce – Roger might want to answer this as well – but the challenge of workforce here and in South Australia, actually, is one of the great challenges. That’s why, as I said earlier, we need to be engaging with [indistinct] at both of our states, and the human capital of both of our states. We’re investing heavily in [indistinct]. We are working very closely with South Metro TAFE here in Perth around building the skills necessary to be able to have the people required to do this work. We know that there are challenges here in terms of obviously the resources sector. But we are confident that with the appropriate investment in training we can find the people and train the people necessary in order to develop this industry. But the point we’d make earlier [indistinct], this will be an enduring industry. In other parts of the world where this occurs you see generational employment, literally four, five generations of people working in the same place. That’s what’s on offer here. And so this is going to be a great industry for Western Australia. And I think when we get on to the horse and training, if I can put it that way, we will be able to find the people. 

COOK: Yeah, as the Deputy Prime Minister said, we’ve done significant work with the Commonwealth to understand what the workforce needs of this project are going to be. In particular, we’re working with South Metro TAFE to make sure that they’re continuing their [indistinct] students and putting on the courses in these sort of skills. And we’ve done this before. With the oil and gas industry, South Metro TAFE was responsible for providing a lot of the workforce, a lot of the training that’s needed, particularly through our gas processing training facility just up the road here at Henderson. So from that perspective we think that we’ve got the skills and the experience to be able to get – stand up this workforce. But we will need to obviously have skilled migrants coming to Western Australia, particularly from the east coast.

JOURNALIST: On the skilled migrants, where will they live, given the Anglicare report today that says nurses, teachers, firefighters can’t find rentals? 

COOK: Well, we know that the housing challenges of a growing economy are part of our experience at the moment. And that’s why we are doing everything we can to make sure that we ensure that our housing industry can adapt to that growing economy and the growing population. And you’re starting to see some levels of success in relation to that. Just the week before last REIWA identified that the vacancy rental rate has gone from 0.7 per cent to 1.4 per cent. So we’re starting to see a little bit of space coming into the rental market. Just last week we released over 6,000 hectares of new residential land that will provide housing for around 16,000 Western Australians as well as the development around our [indistinct] metro west, metro net precinct. So we’re on to that task. We are working hard day and night employing – deploying all aspects of government to make sure that we have the housing. 

JOURNALIST: Premier, the non-defence industries down here, where will they go? 

COOK: Well, that’s one of the tasks, one of the issues which is identified in the comprehensive agreement that we’ve just signed. We need to create a defence precinct, a construction precinct in this area, but then look to move non-defence construction away from that precinct. We’ve identified an area to the north and we’re working with the Commonwealth in relation to those matters. That’s going to require significant work. But many of these companies that are involved in civil vessel construction have been anticipating this announcement and making decisions in relation to that. 

JOURNALIST: Any overseas work – for clarity, any overseas workers coming into this project, will they come under the 10,000 [indistinct], and if that’s the case, is there a risk that that will take away trades for building homes? 

COOK: Well, I want to emphasise that this is a multi-generational development. This is not going to take place over the next 12 months. It’s not even going to take place over the next five years. Over the next decade you’ll see the growth of the significant industry here at Henderson. And obviously we’ll need to continue to make sure that we’ve got the workers to provide the services and construction skills that are needed. 

JOURNALIST: Just on the point Minister Papalia made about the campaigning since 2017, I mean, is this evidence that WA’s nagging works? 

MARLES: Yes. 

COOK: I can hear my federal colleagues behind us going, yeah. No, it’s not nagging. It’s obviously – we have a bold vision for Western Australia as a diversified economy, an economy that really leverages its strengths in the resources and agriculture sectors, to really bring about a great diversified and strong economy, one that can ride out the boom-and-bust cycle of the resources sector. And we’ve had defence industry firmly in our sights for some years now to make sure that everyone understood the importance, the important role that Western Australia could play. And that goes down to advertising campaigns on the east coast. Endless visits to Canberra talking about Western Australia, advocating on behalf of Western Australia. Today we’ve seen a major milestone in that achieved, and we’ll continue to make sure that we drive great outcomes for Western Australia by working with our colleagues in Canberra. 

JOURNALIST: Could I Deputy Prime Minister Marles a question? 

COOK: Yes, of course. 

JOURNALIST: Recruitment, obviously, for this sort of thing is going to be challenging. How’s your service recruitment going? 

MARLES: Service recruitment? 

JOURNALIST: Yeah, uniformed recruitment. 

MARLES: I see. Well, it’s a good question. Matt might want to answer this as well as Minister for Defence Personnel. It’s challenging, but we are working very hard on reducing the separation rates in the Defence Force. So that is retaining those who are in uniform. And we’ve had significant success in doing that. We’re working very hard on trying to increase recruitment rates. The economy in a tight labour market is making that difficult, and this is not a situation which is unique to Australia. But, again, we are working very closely on that. 

We will be announcing in the not-too-distant-future a workforce plan across the Defence Force. But the point I would make specifically in relation to submarines is that we will need to be building an increased force of submariners to operate our future submarines, and that is happening. I mean, right now you’ve got Australian submariners involved in the nuclear propulsion school in the United States. They’re undertaking training in the United Kingdom as well. They are doing that training in an excellent way, and we are seeing both officers and non-commissioned officers graduating as we speak. So, you know, AUKUS is happening right now. Like, we are building the submariner workforce as we speak. And so we do have a real sense of confidence that we will have that workforce in place by the time that we are operating our own flagged vessels, but even now as we have an increased number of Australians gaining experience on both Virginia Class and Astute Class submarines in the US and UK. 

JOURNALIST: But are we in an environment where young people are just not interested in joining the military? 

KEOGH: So the Defence Strategic Review really identified the need to grow the Defence Force and to do more to reduce the number of people leaving the Defence Force and to grow the number of people that are joining the Defence Force. And we have undertaken a number of measures to address recruitment and retention. 

What we saw when we came into government was a number of years where the number of people in the Defence Force was declining. The retention rates have now gone back to the long-term historical average of less than 10 per cent turnover in the Defence Force. So that’s good. We’re retaining more people, and it means the measures that we've introduced to encourage retention are working. 

But what we’re also seeing with the measures to encourage recruitment is that we are seeing an uptick in the number of people applying to join the Defence Force. And we’ve also made changes around the requirements to best fit how our Defence Force actually operates so that more of the people that are applying are actually able to come in and join the Defence Force as well. So there’s certainly more work to do, and we’re continuing to work on that, as the Deputy Prime Minister said, but we are seeing that increase in people seeking to join and less people are leaving than we saw previously. We’ll continue to do more in that space. 

JOURNALIST: Other issues, Deputy Prime Minister. Can I, Deputy Prime Minister, ask your reaction, please, to the commentary around the Prime Minister’s new home purchase. Jane Hume said it was tone-deaf in the middle of a housing crisis. 

MARLES: This is obviously a matter for – a personal matter for the Prime Minister and his partner. I think what matters here is that as a government from the day that we were elected we have been focused on the cost-of-living challenges that have been facing the Australian people. We’ve been – that is being driven by an inflationary environment that we are seeing around the world. In Australia the way in which we have dealt with this is to really engage in a war on inflation, and the most significant steps we’ve taken is to deliver two surplus budgets in the two years in which we have served, something that the former government never did, despite the fact that they promised that they would do it each and every year. And to the extent that we have spent money, we’ve been spending it on cost-of-living measures, be that tax breaks for every income earner, be that energy rebates, be that more affordable childcare, cheaper medicines. Our focus has been on cost of living. Now, we get that Australians are doing it tough, and there is a long way to go here, and we will continue to do everything we can in terms of prudent financial management, which is the most significant step you can take, in terms of maintaining that war on inflation. But what Australians know is that in this Prime Minister and this government they have a government which each and every day is focused on their needs, focused on the cost-of-living pressures that they face and is focused on maintaining that war on inflation. 

JOURNALIST: Do you think that’s cutting through, though? I mean, it’s a personal purchase, but the timing of it does make a difficult political perception, doesn’t it? 

MARLES: Look, it is a personal matter for the Prime Minister. He’s entitled to engage in his own personal affairs, as people around the country do. The people have elected the Prime Minister and his government to act on their behalf in relation to cost of living, and I know standing right next to the Prime Minister that each and every day this is his number one focus. I mean, Anthony is there on behalf of every Australian in terms of doing everything we can within our power to fight this war on inflation. And when you look at what we have done relative to other countries in the world that is succeeding. The war on inflation is succeeding. But so, too, when we put in place a tax cut for every income earner the started to roll out in the middle of this year, that has made a difference for Australians. Now, you know, there’s a long way to go here. We’re not saying the job is done. This is a pressure which is being faced by Australians as we speak. But we’ll continue to work on that each and every day, and I know the Prime Minister is committed to that. 

JOURNALIST: Premier? 

COOK: Any questions for Paul? 

PAPALIA: You were asking about where do you get submariners, recruit people to staff the submarines. 

JOURNALIST: Well, no, I was asking about all the services. 

PAPALIA: So I’m the father of young men. I can tell you, young people today, there’s a couple of subjects that really gets them engaged. One of them is space and the other is it’s a pretty cool thing, nuclear submarines. If I were 40 years younger, I might even consider not being a diver and going into submarines since they have nuclear submarines. Virginia Class, which we’re going to have in a very short period of time, our own Virginia Class submarine, is the apex predator of the ocean. If you’re in the military, if you’re even thinking about going in the military, you want to go in the best possible equipment that you’ve got. The best available, the most impactful, the one that generates or projects power on behalf of a nation in the most effective way. These things are going to draw people to them. And the same can be said of maintenance. So most of those jobs are Western Australians. There might be some people that we need in the initial stages who’ll have the specific nuclear capability and experience and knowledge. But it's not large numbers. What you’re talking about, most of those thousands of jobs are going to be multi-generational Western Australian jobs right here. I’ll go before I get in trouble. 

JOURNALIST: Sorry, Minister, before you do jump off, I have a separate one on the death in custody of [indistinct]. Does this demonstrate the challenges that staff there face? 

PAPALIA: What you’ve – I’ve got to say, which we always say – any death in custody is subject to a coronial inquest. So it’s not appropriate for me to talk about it. 

ENDS