‘You can’t say both things and be credible’: Greens Senator criticises Labor govt

Greens Defence Spokesperson David Shoebridge has criticised the Albanese government’s “credibility” as they say there’s a five-year window to get the Defence Force up and running, whereas the strategic review talks about the 2040s. The new surface fleet strategy announced by Defence Minister Richard Marles on Tuesday will cost $11.1 billion over a decade. It increases the number of surface combatants from 11 to 26, but the six optionally crewed vessels are yet to be developed. “If you accept the government’s rhetoric, and I think there’s a lot of reasons to challenge it … they say there’s a five-year window to get Australia’s Defence Force up and running,” Mr Shoebridge told Sky News Australia. “This surface fleet review talks about having something done by the mid to late 2040s. “You can’t say both things at the same time and be credible.”