I begin by acknowledging the first Australians on whose land we meet and cultures we celebrate as the oldest continuing cultures in human history.
The Australian Government is committed to building Australia's future, building a stronger Australia, a fairer Australia, a fairer Australia for working families, and an Australia capable of confronting the great challenges of our future. A core part of building Australia's future is building the industries of the future, building the jobs of the future, and based on those industries and jobs, building the Defence Force we need for the future as well.
That's why today is a good day for Australia. Today is a good day for South Australia. Today is a good day for the Royal Australian Navy.
This shipyard which we are opening today is going to be the biggest Defence project ever undertaken in Australia. This shipyard will provide jobs for Australians and help build Australia's future, and this shipyard had been delivered on time and on budget.
With a project the size of this, $120 million, this is a substantial undertaking, so I congratulate all those who have been involved in the successful completion of this project. I'm advised that more than 50 companies, sub-contractors and suppliers were involved in providing materials, equipment and services to the shipyard between February '08 and November '09. At its peak, 400 people were working on this project, both on and off site, keeping the South Australian economy strong and supporting the jobs of working families.
This shipyard forms part of the Techcorp precinct here at Osborne, a State and Federal Government investment in our national industrial security. Together with the $320 million South Australian-owned common-user facility, this is a world-class shipbuilding and ship making facility, and I wish to publically acknowledge and thank the South Australian Government and the South Australian Premier for their strong and critical support for this project.
Techport includes a wharf, a runway, a dry berth, transport system and the ASC crane, which I'm advised would be Australia's largest ship lift and crane. This crane has a lift capacity of some 900 tonnes, and when it's assembled its jib height will be 90 metres. There are only 12 cranes around the world of this size.
All this technology will allow the precinct to deliver the most advanced surface combat ship ever built in Australia, the Air Warfare Destroyer. This $8 billion project is the biggest Defence project developed in our nation's history. The AWD will be a vital component of not just our future naval capability, but of Australia's future itself.
To secure our future, Australia will need a strong Defence Force and strong defence industry. Last year, the Australian Government looked to the future with the release of the Defence White Paper. The Government has committed to providing the men and women of the Australian Defence Force with the best possible equipment.
As I announced in Sydney last year that the launch of the Defence White Paper, that means delivering new, more powerful sets of military capabilities. Together, these capabilities are known as Force 2030, a force that will strengthen the defence of Australia for the next generation.
We, Australia, have a vast coastline, one of the three longest coast lines in the world. We have a vast maritime zone, and we have the third-largest maritime jurisdiction in the world. We have a vast maritime trade. We are, by definition, therefore, a maritime power, and we must have a capability to articulate that power.
We've made it clear that a strong maritime force is the key element of Force 2030. We are committed to a larger, heavier and more potent maritime force. As one important element of that we need advanced, modern, capable surface combatants, including, of course, the Air Warfare Destroyers. We need these surface combatants for the range of roles to establish control of the seas and project force into the maritime environment, including in support of our land forces.
Air Warfare Destroyers will be delivered in this project in 2014, '16 and '17. The first of these to be completed will be the new HMAS Hobart, and the fleet will be called the Hobart Class destroyers.
This destroyer will be the third HMAS Hobart. The first was built in the UK in the 1930s. She was a Modified Leander Class and served the Royal Australian Navy with distinction throughout the Second World War.
The second HMAS Hobart was a guided-missile destroyer built in the United States. She served with distinction in the Vietnam War and was one of the first ships to provide support and assistance in the aftermath of Cyclone Tracey.
But unlike the previous HMAS Hobarts, this third HMAS Hobart will have the honour of bearing not only the name, this great name, but also the honour of being built right here in Australia for the first time, and that shows the strength of our Australian defence industry.
We've come a long way since the first all-steel military ship was built in Australia in 1914 for the fledging Royal Australian Navy. The HMAS Huon was a River Class torpedo boat destroyer. She served in World War One in what was then called the Far East, or our words, the Near North, and later, of course, the Mediterranean.
She reminds us that from our earliest stages of Federation Australia has relied on naval power for our security and to play our part in international security. That is just as true today, when our Navy is on operation around the world, working against piracy, supporting our efforts in Afghanistan, flying the flag while working closely with our allies and friends.
It also true that to maintain our naval capabilities we need a world-beating defence industry here in Australia. The future of the defence industry can be seen in the innovative model that's being used to build the Air Warfare Destroyers. This is the most significant and complex Defence project being delivered using an alliance business model. The AWD alliance brings together the Defence Department and its commercial partners into a single consortium showing what we can achieve when we decide to work together.
ASC, the AWD shipbuilder, the Defence Materiel Organisation, the DMO, and Raytheon are working in close partnership and I'd like to acknowledge also the support of our other AWD partners, Navantia, Lockheed-Martin, and the United States Navy.
It's great to hear that the project is progressing well and that the AWD alliance is working as a team.
Building these ships here in Australia is good for the Navy. It's good also for industry, and it's good news for jobs. Apart from the hundreds of involved in constructing this ship yard, there are at present more than 800 hundred people working on the AWD alliance right across Australia and about 650 of them right here in South Australia.
Therefore, this AWD is a massive undertaking for the nation and for the State and it is a truly Australia-wide project, helping develop our national skills and infrastructure base. Steel from Port Kembla will be bashed into the hull blocks in South Australia, in Newcastle by FORGAS Group Australia and in Melbourne by BAE Systems Australia and the final ships will be assembled here in South Australia.
In so doing, we will have enhanced our defence industry and build a stronger national economy.
This project is also a chance for Australia to demonstrate our technological and ship-building capabilities to the world. The project will use some of the world's most sophisticated defence systems and components and a project of this magnitude means that Government and industry must work together in innovative ways to ensure success.
What we've put together is a cutting-edge alliance-based contracting strategy. Let me make it clear the Government is watching progress in this project very closely.
I congratulate the AWD alliance for the work that they are doing in building our next generation of Air Warfare Destroyers, and I would also like to congratulate ASC in today's opening of this facility. As a Government business enterprise, we pay very close attention to the work ASC does in this terminal here. I'm pleased that ASC's (inaudible) is here today.
The challenge ahead for the alliance is to deliver the AWDs on time and on budget. Having this capability as and when required will be critical to our national security. It will also demonstrate to the world that ASC and Australia as a nation is capable of competing with the best in the world in shipbuilding, and we have very high expectations of ASC. We expect it to be internationally recognised as an innovative and world-leading in ship building and ship sustainment enterprise. In other words, it must be the kind of company that others benchmark against.
We expect it to deliver the best value for money to the taxpayer, and we expect to build our Air Warfare Destroyers to budget, on schedule and to meet this capability requirement.
This new shipyard represents a substantial national industrial opportunity and I expect that the Defence Materiel Organisation, ASC and other companies involved in this project will look for innovative ways to use the opportunities presented by this shipyard.
On behalf of the Australian Government, I congratulate those who've built this facility, the companies and the alliance partners involved in this very complex project to build the Air Warfare Destroyers and Defence Materiel Organisation for managing this project.
As we enter the 21st Century, this century of the Asia-Pacific region, we are moving into a century of great strategic uncertainty, globally and regionally. Together, we must build the defence that our country needs for the 21st Century. Together we must build the naval force the country needs for the 21st century. And together we must build a strong Australia, strong in its economy, strong in its national security, confident of our place in the region and world, and that's why we need this capability here in Adelaide.
It is therefore with great pleasure that together with others here present today that we declare open this new ASC shipyard for Australia and the Australian Navy.
I thank you.