Shadow Defence Minister shares his 'main concern' with surface fleet strategy

Shadow Defence Minister Andrew Hastie says the main concern he has about the government’s new surface fleet strategy is we won’t see a new ship in the water until 2031. “The Defence Minister today announced that the Anzac frigate, HMAS Anzac would be retired, and we won’t see a replacement until 2031,” Mr Hastie told Sky News Australia. “So whilst he could announce today $11 billion over the next decade there’s only $1.7 billion over the forward estimates. “What I think is clear here is that Richard Marles went to … cabinet and he lost. “He lost against Penny Wong, Katy Gallagher and Jim Chalmers, and I think the real question he should be asking is what can he fix by 2026.”