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The Albanese Government held its fourth Product of Concern Summit in Canberra today to support the sustainment of Australia’s Collins class submarines.

Minister for Defence Industry, Pat Conroy, convened the summit alongside 
Minister for Finance, Senator the Hon Katy Gallagher, and senior representatives from government and industry.

Since being listed as a Product of Concern in December 2024, Defence and the contractor, ASC Pty Ltd, have developed a remediation plan for the sustainment of the Collins class.

This plan will ensure Collins class submarines remain among the most capable conventionally powered submarines in the world.

Since the revitalisation of Defence’s Projects and Products of Concern process in 2022, the Albanese Government has strengthened the oversight and remediation of defence projects.

Remediation is being achieved through targeted workforce initiatives, process improvements and productivity reform. The Product of Concern framework continues to play a crucial role in driving cooperation, accountability and sustained action across government and industry.

This is the twelfth Project of Concern Summit since May 2022.

Minister for Defence Industry, Pat Conroy:

“I was pleased to convene the fourth Product of Concern summit for the Collins class submarine fleet today. This process helps ensure Australia has a highly-capable conventional submarine fleet for many years to come, and as we transition to nuclear-powered submarines.

“By bringing Defence and industry together on a regular basis, we maintain oversight and transparency of the capabilities required by the Australian Defence Force to preserve peace and deter conflict.

“The Product of Concern framework, which was revitalised by the Albanese Government, provides a structured forum to collaborate and agree on remediation activities to support Collins class submarine sustainment outcomes.”

Today’s report paints a clear picture of the challenge that lies ahead for the ACT – we need to address our deteriorating fiscal position, but we cannot undertake Budget repair at the expense of those who can least afford it.

“Revenue is stretched, but government services are vital. It’s clear we cannot respond by cutting services the way neoliberal governments of the past did. Instead, we need a pathway that builds rather than demolishes, a pathway that puts people first.

“It’s clear the path to fixing Canberra’s budget – not for the abject sake of surpluses, but to ensure sustainable, long-term investment in the services Canberrans need and deserve – lies in a combination of increased revenue and genuine savings and efficiencies.

“These efficiencies do not mean rash austerity Budget’s or recklessly cutting public service jobs. It means reorienting priorities and making the Government’s work more impactful to everyday Canberrans.

“Saul Eslake specifically highlighted health and education, which have accounted for more than half of government spending for years, but where outcomes have fallen behind.

“These are such vital services for our community, and for the level of investment we are making, we simply need better results and improved use of our resources.

“Over the coming months, the Greens will be scrutinising the implications of this interim report and using it as a basis to insist the Committee Inquiry to ask the right questions and deliver recommendations for improving the budget and reshaping our priorities for the future.”

Greens MP for Balmain Kobi Shetty has slammed the Minns Labor Government for delivering just 10% affordable housing on publicly owned land — far short of their election commitment of 30% on surplus government-owned land.

Kobi Shetty MP for Balmain said:

“There’s no question that above a metro station is exactly where new density should go, properly supported by public transport and infrastructure.

“But delivering just 10% affordable housing on publicly owned land during the worst housing affordability crisis in generations is not good enough. It’s another broken promise from the Minns Labor Government.

“Without significantly more social, affordable, and public housing, this development risks becoming another exclusive waterfront enclave for the rich, while nurses, teachers, essential workers, and young families are pushed further out of the communities they serve.”

Shetty said the decision represented a major backflip on NSW Labor’s commitment to deliver at least 30% social, affordable and universal housing on surplus government land.

“This is public land. They’re sacrificing our last working port in Sydney Harbour for this new development. It should be used to deliver public good — not be a cash cow for developers.

“NSW Labor promised 30% affordable housing on surplus government land. Delivering just 10% falls drastically short of that commitment. It even falls short of what the former Liberal Government had planned for the Bays West Precinct– which was for 30% affordable housing.

“We have a NSW Labor Government who claims to care about working people. They claim to be addressing the housing crisis – but their vision is even less ambitious than what we were set to get under a conservative Liberal Government.  

Shetty said genuine community consultation and stronger affordable housing targets were essential to ensure the project delivers for the broader community.

“We need more homes — but they need to be homes people can actually afford. It’s a significant amount of housing, and the government will need to plan it very carefully to ensure it is integrated with the rest of Balmain and Rozelle, and people can access all of the services they need.

“We welcome the firm commitment to delivering the Glebe Island Bridge as an essential walking and cycling link for our growing city”

The Greens welcome the release of employer-level gender pay gap data by WGEA today, a move that we have long called for, but it’s alarming to see many of the employers with enormous gender pay gaps are the same big corporations that aren’t paying their fair share.

We also welcome the release of public sector data. The data shows the public sector is significantly outperforming the private sector, demonstrating the importance of government action to address gender inequality.

Greens leader in the senate and spokesperson on women, Senator Larissa Waters:

“Closing the gender pay gap is a task for both employers and government.

“While the overall gap has slightly narrowed over the past year, more than 70 per cent of workplaces still have a gender gap favouring men, and 45 per cent of workplaces have actually gone backwards and now have a worse gender pay gap than the year before. The banking sector remains one of the worst offenders.

“Many of the big employers with massive gender pay gaps are also the ones who aren’t paying their fair share of tax.

“Virgin paid $0 tax in 2023-24, and today’s data reveals they have a current gender pay gap of a whopping 44 per cent.

“Qantas has a gender pay gap of 40 per cent, and despite raking in $21 billion in revenue, paid just $8m in tax.

“And it isn’t just our national airlines that are underpaying women and their fair share of tax. Santos, Chevron, all pay $0 tax and have a current gender pay gap above 20 per cent.

“We already know these big corporations aren’t paying their fair share of tax, today’s data confirms they aren’t interested in closing the gender pay gap either.

“Private companies with massive, and even growing, gender pay gaps are still receiving millions in government contracts. Procurement is a powerful lever to lift private sector performance. The government needs to flex that power and refuse to engage companies that can’t take the gender pay gap seriously.”

Department advice to dramatically reign in salmon farming from Macquarie Harbour to protect the Maugean skate and the National Heritage values of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area was defied by the Albanese government, new FOI documents reveal.

The Albanese government instead made a calculated move to betray the environment and water-down the nation’s environment laws by introducing and passing special legislation to protect the salmon industry.

Greens spokesperson for healthy oceans and Senator for Lutruwita/Tasmania, Peter Whish-Wilson:

“These revelations prove the Albanese government doesn’t give a fuck about the environment. 

“The shameless self-serving actions of the Albanese government and its blatant disregard of expert scientific advice from within its own environment department is galling. 

“Not only did the Albanese government ignore departmental advice on the urgent need to reign in toxic salmon farms from polluting Macquarie Harbour, it made a disgracefully calculated move to introduce laws to protect the dirty industry. 

“Who knew reverse psychology worked so well on this deluded and desperate government? 

“The Albanese government has shown over and over again it is more committed to protecting the profits of mega-polluting salmon companies than it is to preventing the avoidable extinction of an entire species.

“No further proof is needed to determine who this shameful government is really working for – but you’ve got to ask why? It reeks of pure cronyism and state capture.”

Mr Speaker, standing and sessional orders today must be suspended to allow me to introduce a Bill today without delay because this issue is urgent and must be resolved, today.

Mr Speaker:

We must be clear-eyed about threats to our nation.

Consider what we’ve seen in recent years.

The day after Hamas gleefully tortured, raped, mutilated, and murdered 1,200 civilians in Israel, a rally was held at Lakemba in Sydney.

There, a crowd cheered a radical Islamic cleric and he described the terrorist attack on Israel as “a day of pride” and “a day of victory.”

The following night, a seething mob gathered on the steps of Sydney Opera House.

They chanted “Where’s the Jews” and “F*** the Jews.”

They sought to strike fear into our Jewish community.

It was one of the most odious events in our nation’s history.

An event where we didn’t recognise our own country.

But an event where did we realise that something sinister had taken root in Australia.

In the aftermath of that sordid evening, there was an opportunity.

An opportunity for strong political leadership grounded in moral clarity.

An opportunity to stop the spread of antisemitism.

An opportunity to come down hard on extremism.

Instead, there was weak political leadership engulfed in a moral fog.

What followed was the tolerance of even more intolerable antisemitic incidents:

Marches where genocidal slogans were chanted.

Encampments on university campuses.

Homes, cars, and memorials graffitied and vandalised.

Extremist preachers spreading hate with impunity.

Synagogues firebombed.

And then came the bloodshed on Bondi Beach.

Fifteen innocent people gunned down by radical Islamists.

The worst terrorist attack on our soil in our history.

I say again: we must be clear eyed about the threats to our nation.

Our borders have been opened to people who hate our way of life.

People who don’t want to change for Australia – but who want Australia to change for them.

Of course, those who seek to change Australia exist on a spectrum.

There are some who would use violence and terrorism – as we saw on Bondi Beach.

There are those who seek to incite violence – as we’ve seen with radical Islamist clerics.

There are those who seek to import foreign hatreds – as we’ve seen in rallies where protesters chant “globalise the intifada.”

And there are those who, while rejecting violence, still reject Australian values.

People who don’t believe in equal rights for men and women.

People who don’t believe in the rule of law and want to establish parallel legal systems.

People who don’t believe in freedom of speech, association, and religion.

We must be clear: Islamic extremism has no place in this country.

Nor do other extremist ideologies that are weaponised for harm.

The vast majority of Muslims in this country – be they migrants, conferred citizens, or Australian born – embrace our values and way of life.

They are not peddlers of political Islam.

And that’s all the more reason why our nation must confront radical Islamism and political Islam which are threats to us all.

Threats both imported and homegrown.

Threats that will be amplified with the repatriation of the 34-strong ISIS bride cohort.

Mr Speaker:

Let’s be clear about these ISIS sympathisers or the ISIS brides – a label which conceals all manner of sins.

These people chose to abandon Australia.

They chose to travel to terrorist hot spots.

They chose to support one of the world’s most evil and barbaric death cults.

They chose to steep their children in a monstrous ideology.

They don’t deserve compassion – they deserve condemnation.

And they pose an unacceptable risk to Australia because of their terrorist sympathies.

Their children, likewise, pose a risk to Australia because of the hate which has undoubtedly filled their minds.

If the 34-strong cohort of ISIS sympathisers are allowed into Australia, they would import hate and be incubators of hate.

Their repatriation fails the values test, fails the security test, fails the fairness test, and fails the pub test.

And yet, repatriation appears to be proceeding.

The government has tried to shroud this process in secrecy.

But we know a few things.

We know DNA testing has been conducted.

We know passports have been granted and citizenship applications processed.

We know that just one Temporary Exclusion Order has been issued – raising more questions than answers.

The Home Affairs Minister has the power to issue more.

He does not need to hide behind advice.

He has chosen not to.

I’ll repeat that. He has chosen not to.

And this is a crucial part of the way this legislation is put together. He can issue temporary exclusion orders, independent of intelligence advice.

We know the Home Affairs Minister has discussed repatriation with Save the Children – and with his mate and political-backer, Dr Jamal Rifi.

And we know the Premiers of Victoria and New South Wales have been engaging with the Commonwealth for months on return and reintegration issues.

The Albanese Government is not being upfront with Australians when it pretends to be at arm’s length from these repatriations.

But what is absolutely clear is this, Mr Speaker:

Under Labor, non-government third parties have been empowered to facilitate the re-entry of terrorist sympathisers.

In other words, the government is outsourcing decisions that affect the security of all Australians.

That loophole must be closed.

And the Coalition seeks to close this loophole with the Criminal Code Amendment (Keeping Australia Safe) Bill 2026.

Mr Speaker:

The proposed legislation that we bring before the Parliament today has three clear objectives.

First, it will end the freelancing of non-government third parties who seek to bring dangerous individuals into Australia.

The Bill amends the Criminal Code Act 1995 and creates a new offence.

It would make it a crime to assist the entry into Australia of an individual:

·     who has been in a terrorist hotspot;

·     who has links to a terrorist organisation; or

·     who has committed terror-related offences.

They are crucial pre conditions. 

In this, the Bill seeks to achieve a second objective which is restoring ministerial accountability.

Through our proposed legislation, any non-government third party that seeks to provide repatriation assistance must obtain written prior permission. Must obtain written prior permission.

And both the Home Affairs Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister must approve any non-government third party repatriation assistance for individuals affiliated with a terrorist organisation.

In other words, they must be accountable for the decision. And that’s how ministerial accountability should work.

Such authorisations will ensure that ministers are responsible for significant national security decisions.

We want the government to take back control over who comes into our country – instead of outsourcing control to third parties and turning a blind eye.

The third objective is technical.

Under section 119.2 of the existing Criminal Code, it’s a criminal offence to enter- or remain in- a declared terrorist area.

This Bill seeks to extend the sunset date of this provision from 7 September 2027 through to 7 September 2030.

Mr Speaker:

Australians have had a gutful.

They can see the country they love changing for the worse.

The Coalition’s goal is clear:

We want to shut the door on returning ISIS sympathisers. Shut the door on returning ISIS sympathisers.

We want to shut the door on Islamic extremism.

We want to shut the door on those who don’t subscribe to Australian values and our core beliefs.

The Bill that the Coalition has brought before the Parliament is a test for the Prime Minister.

Will he keep the door shut to protect our way of life?

Will he help shut the door to protect our way of life?

Or will he keep the door wide open because he cares so little for our way of life?