South Australia ship builders rip Abbott a new asshole - AMWU

Ship builders in South Australia have gone bananas at Abbott about WTF is happening with the new subs he used to con the SA Lieberal MP's to vote against his spill motion. There is still no clear indication that they will be built here in Australia, worried that the tender will go to Japan (seriously, of all fuckin countries, Japan). They have used their union the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union to vent their frustrations:

The AMWU launched its 2015 shipbuilders’ campaign in Canberra this week with the demand that embattled PM Tony Abbott guarantee an Australian build of submarines without weasel words aimed at trying to save his own job. 

Government confusion over the subs has proven the Prime Minister’s promise to South Australian Liberals to gain their support in the Liberal Spill meant nothing in ensuring the 12 subs are built here or maintaining a single job – except the PM’s. 

At the Campaign Re-Launch at Parliament House, AMWU National Assistant Secretary Glenn Thompson told union delegates and guest MPs and the media that it was appalling that Tony Abbott had treated thousands of defence industry jobs as a leadership bargaining chip. 

“Defence experts have never heard of the term ‘competitive evaluation process’,” he said. “It’s a cop out, not a chance for the ASC to participate in a full, competitive tender process which Liberal Senator Sean Edwards thought he was promised. 

“We are highly concerned that this is just a political ‘tick and flick’ to hide a vague process even the new Defence Minister can’t explain, backed by a cosy understanding the PM has for a build by the Japanese.” 

The AMWU believes an Australian build should be a mandatory part of the submarine tender documentation, on top of the need for the ASC to be able to compete fairly with Japanese, German, French and Swedish syndicates. more

Certainly not a big ask to put Australia in the tender process by default one would think. I mean we are actually talking about the defence of Australia, not Japan. At least give them a chance to tender and show how competitive they are, but the gov isn't even doing that FFS.

On top of that, I'd have to say, there still remains a lingering distrust in Australia of the Japanese after WW2. Me one of them. My own father fought in that war and Australia fought to drive them from our shores. To have them build our defence weapons only a generation later is obscene and insulting in the extreme.