Germany promotes 'proven' shipbuilding record in opening pitch for $10 billion Australian warship project
A German defence company pushing for a lucrative Australian frigate contract is pitching its "proven" global record on naval shipbuilding as it competes against a rival bid from Japan that is being heavily backed by Tokyo.
Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), which helped design and integrate Australia's soon-to-be-retired ANZAC class fleet, is now wanting to build the Navy's new $10 billion General Purpose Frigates (GPF) slated to begin arriving from 2029.
Last year the Albanese government announced warship designs from Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Germany's TKMS had been down-selected ahead of other offerings from South Korea and Spain for the massive program.
Under the GPF program TKMS is proposing building its MEKO A-200 frigate operated by Egypt, while MHI is pitching its upgraded Mogami frigate, known as the 30FFM, which will soon enter service with Japan's Maritime Self Defence Force.
A second "Australianised" version of the MEKO 200 which utilises SAAB's 9LV combat management system is also being evaluated and is believed to be highly favoured by Defence because of its easy integration with the Australian fleet.
Government sources have told the ABC a decision on the winning design will be made before Christmas, with a contract to be signed by March next year to begin overseas construction of the first three frigates.
After the first three frigates are constructed in either Germany or Japan, the Australian government wants to relocate production for the next eight warships to the Henderson shipyard outside Perth during the 2030s.
In its first public comments since being shortlisted by Defence last November, Germany's TKMS has talked up its record of exporting its MEKO family of warships to 16 different navies worldwide, including NATO nations.
This week the Head of Operating Unit Surface Vessels at TKMS, Dr Oliver Juckenhöfel, is visiting Australia to brief senior defence and government officials about the company's bid for the lucrative frigate project known as SEA3000.
"There is no better example of our track record than the ANZAC Frigate Program, being part of the MEKO 200 family of frigates," Dr Juckenhöfel told a gathering at Germany's embassy in Canberra.
"The ships were built in Australia by Tenix Defence (now BAE Systems), under a technology transfer agreement. TKMS provided key design expertise, system integration support, and ongoing upgrade solutions for the class.
"Today, the ANZAC remains the gold standard for Australian naval shipbuilding — a project delivered not just on time and on budget, but with record levels of Australian industry content."
Prior to arriving in Canberra, Dr Juckenhöfel also visited New Zealand which is looking to eventually replace its own smaller ANZAC class fleet but is not scheduled to do so until after Australia.
"We are confident that the MEKO A-200 will serve not only as a powerful, reliable ship but also as a long-term investment in the future of the Australian Navy and the continuous naval shipbuilding and sustainment enterprise," Dr Juckenhöfel added.
Last year Japan's Defence Chief told the ABC his country was willing to prioritise delivery of its new and upgraded Mogami warships ahead of his own navy, if the cutting-edge design is selected for a $10 billion contract.
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ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Popular bakery owes staff almost $250,000 in super, but 'payday' super could protect workers
Popular hospitality group All Are Welcome owes almost a quarter of a million dollars in superannuation to its current and former employees, with many staff feeling worried and concerned they won't see the money they are owed. The Insta-famous bakery — with locations in Melbourne's Northcote, Thornbury and East Ivanhoe — entered voluntary administration in February this year after accruing more than $1 million in debts. Documents shared with the ABC reveal staff are owed $243,000 in superannuation and $125,000 in leave entitlements, with the total amount owed to the ATO standing around $1.4 million. But, according to the administrator's report, the original director — Boris Portnoy — bought back the business after it entered into voluntary administration, with question marks over whether he will carry over the former business's liabilities. "[It's] quite concerning because I don't have confidence that I'm going to see that money," one former employee told the ABC. The former staff member, who has asked not to be named, says they found out about the lack of super payments in March this year. "When we received a correspondence from the administrators on the 12th of March which had some information about the business, including a section that stated how much money was owed in super, which prompted myself and others to go and check our super accounts properly." They say, despite their pay slips including superannuation contributions, this money was not reflected in their accounts. "It was clear that we hadn't been paid any super payments since around sort of September last year, which is around sort of eight or nine months worth of no super payments," they say. Multiple former staff from the bakery have told the ABC they are each owed thousands of dollars in superannuation. "[I felt] disappointed because we were led to feel quite responsible for the financial situation of the business in that there was a lot of pressure put on all of us as employees in terms of keeping the roster as tight as we can and ordering as tight as we can in order to sort of get the business across the line," said one former worker. "Then to find out that we've been withheld entitlements and hadn't been told, felt like a bit of a blindside." The former employee says there was no communication from the director and when they tried to seek answers from him, nothing was clear. "The explanation of why we weren't paid super was that the business had been struggling financially and that was a method that he was able to use in order to help him with cash flow for the business," they said. But they say nothing was provided in writing, and there was no clear timeframe on when staff may see their money. "I'm not sure what's changed in order to allow him to pay that moving forward in a different manner." During this period, Mr Portnoy also lent himself $235,028 through his family trust, which documents reveal "were made to him in lieu of a wage". In a statement to the ABC, Mr Portnoy said: "As part of the business purchase all outstanding employee entitlements are to be assumed by the new company. "The timing for the payment of the superannuation is being determined by the administrators and we will have a firm timeline after finalisation of the liquidation," he said. The administrator did not respond to the ABC's request for comment. Superannuation advocates have been pushing for "payday super" to help minimise this problem. "Payday super, as it sounds on the tin, is your super paid on the same day as your wages," said Mary Delahunty, chief executive officer of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA). Some employers already do this, but it's not a requirement. If the law changes, everyone will get their superannuation payments at the same time as their wages. If it had been in place, the former staff of All Are Welcome are unlikely to have had such a large amount of super owing to them. Superannuation is not covered under the Fair Entitlements Guarantee, which protects some of the money owed to workers when a business goes under. "They are due to be paid. Unpaid super is an obligation still, even through a liquidation process. And they have a priority sort of setting in the liquidation processes," Ms Delahunty said. She said the most common way people were paid wages was fortnightly, "but monthly is also very common". Payments to superannuation however are most commonly paid either quarterly or monthly. Because of this, some small businesses use superannuation payments as a kind of overdraft or "credit card", helping them to smooth cash flow issues — when the timing of income and payments doesn't line up. Payday super should allow such problems to be seen sooner, she adds. "It would allow for non-compliance with payments to be seen more regularly … [people] could chase it up and the ATO could do their reckoning of that non-compliance in a more timely manner." Essentially, flagging problems before they get bigger. The laws, which are meant to take effect in July 2026, haven't even passed Parliament yet and a lobby group representing accountants is asking for a two-year delay. Richard Webb, superannuation lead at CPA Australia, says the industry supports the intent of payday super and the idea that people should have their deferred remuneration — such as superannuation — paid at the same time as their wages. "But the reality is that the infrastructure and the spend that many businesses will need to do to make sure that their systems are up for it is simply not doable by that time," he argues. Most workers simply receive their pay in their bank account. But for the people on the other end pushing money through the financial pipes, it's a lot harder. The Single Touch Payroll system means, for the vast majority of Australian employees, data is sent to the Australian Tax Office (ATO) at the same time the wages or salary are paid to the employee's bank account. "But in the case of superannuation contributions, there's a lot more data needed to be sent at the same time as contributions themselves," Mr Webb says. "So the cash goes one way, the data goes the other. It meets at an intermediary who mixes the data and the cash together and makes sure they all match up. And then it sends the data the various separate ways to various separate super funds [for individual employees]." That's not the only problem. Many Australians work in roles that attract penalties and bonuses, such as extra pay for unsociable hours and weekend work. Others receive commissions on sales that can take time to be calculated — such as when the product is delivered or when the client pays — making the amount of super for a defined period like a fortnight difficult to accurately calculate. CPA Australia represents 170,000 accountants dotted throughout the world, with members working in different areas of accounting, finance and regulation. Mr Webb agrees the current system needs to change. When it goes bad and employees are short-changed, Mr Webb adds, the delay can make it harder to ascertain the figures owed. "So we think that having them paid near each other makes it a lot easier ultimately for employers, who are paying smaller amounts out rather than one big lump sum at the end of the quarter," he said. "It means that everyone can have everything nicely and neatly bundled in the same place where they can see it." But he doesn't see the industry ready by the mooted deadline of July 1, 2026. Even workers who don't suffer the misfortune of their employer going under could benefit. Due to the effect of compound interest — the returns from investments and interest building on top of itself — just the shift to more frequent payments will boost the retirement savings of millions. ASFA's Mary Delahunty says a shift from being paid superannuation quarterly (once every three months) to every fortnight will add up.
ABC News
4 hours ago
- ABC News
Woodside's massive gas extension explained
Sam Hawley: Woodside is on a winning ticket. It's had the life of its massive gas project in Western Australia extended by 40 years. That's great news for the oil and gas giant that will export almost all of the gas overseas. But what's in it for us? And what about the climate? Today, Jo Lauda from the ABC's climate team on why the Albanese government has approved the extension, even though we're meant to be going renewable. I'm Sam Hawley on Gadigal land in Sydney. This is ABC News Daily. News report: To some breaking news for you now. The life of Australia's largest oil and gas project will be extended to 2070 with Environment Minister Murray Watt to give the long-awaited environmental approval for the Northwest Shelf Project. News report: The decision has left Indigenous custodians and environmental groups devastated. Murray Watt, Environment minister: Whatever decision I make, there'll be lots of people unhappy. It's Anthony Albanese, PM: Net zero, not zero. Net zero. Protestors: Stop! Woodside! Stop! Stop! Woodside! We will challenge this at every level in every court. The climate movement is united against this project. It's an absolute climate bomb. Sam Hawley: Jo, the newly elected Labor government says it has this plan to tackle climate change. But one of its first decisions since it was re-elected was to extend the life of one of the country's biggest gas plants. And I thought we were meant to be quitting gas. Jo Lauder: Yeah, this was a really interesting first major decision for the government. And I think like you, a lot of people are really confused. So we can step through it a bit. So I guess to start with, this is the Northwest Shelf Gas Project. And so since the 1980s, gas has been extracted from basins off the Pilbara coast in northern Western Australia. This area is home to one of the largest deposits of gas in the country. And it's also where we find this gas plant. So it's the biggest, it's the oldest gas plant in Australia, the Northwest Gas Shelf. And it's run by a company, Woodside Energy. So the gas plant was due to close in 2030 until Senator Murray Watt, under his first major decision as Environment Minister, he approved that extension until 2070. Sam Hawley: Wow, that's another 40 years, so that's quite some extension, isn't it, Jo? And the thing is, it has an extraordinary Indigenous history as well, doesn't it, this area? Jo Lauder: Yeah, so it doesn't just have huge gas reserves. This area is also home to an estimated one million petroglyphs. And so these are rock carvings and art, and these are believed to date back as far as 50,000 years, Sam. So really, really significant history. And so for years, local elders and scientists, they've been raising really significant concerns about the direct industrial emissions, the air pollution that's come from these nearby industrial plants and what that is doing to these rock art and how it might be degrading the surfaces of it. And so there's some suggestions that the effect of those emissions are so significant that the rock arts could be lost in 100 years. Sam Hawley: So this facility has been given the green light to run for another 40 years, and part of that, according to the government, is because LNG, liquefied natural gas, plays a key role in our energy mix. So it's supposed to be a reliable source of energy, right, throughout this transition to renewables? Jo Lauder: Yeah, so gas is going to play a role in our electricity mix going forward and also for heavy industry, which is a big part of WA's economy. And interestingly, in terms of what the world actually needs going forward, if we're going to hit our net zero targets, the International Energy Agency says we actually don't need any new or expanded coal, gas or oil projects to stay under those targets. But at the same time, you know, the Woodside's chief executive, Meg O'Neill, says that this extension of the Northwest Shelf beyond 2030 will secure reliable energy for decades to come. Meg O'Neill, Woodside Energy CEO: I think it's time that the opponents of our industry face up to the fact that they are making the energy transition harder and riskier by slowing down investment and trying to take practical options off the table. Jo Lauder: And it's also something the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, said as well. He really talked up the role of gas as part of the transition. And that's what he said when the extension was approved. He also pointed out, you know, WA does still use a lot of gas in its electricity mix and WA has a domestic gas reservation policy. And so Woodside is meant to keep 15 per cent of the gas for the local market. And that's something the Prime Minister really talked to when he was defending this decision. Anthony Albanese, PM: In Western Australia, they are closing their last coal-fired power station at Collie in 2027. They are moving to renewables backed by gas. And that will be a really important part of the transition that will occur. Sam Hawley: But that's WA. What will it mean for gas supply for the rest of the country? Jo Lauder: Not a lot. So none of the gas from the Northwest Shelf is going to be reserved for the East Coast. And this is where people would have heard about a looming potential gas crunch, especially in Victoria and, you know, like the cold estates. So for the domestic market, for the East Coast, we'd have to buy it. And then even then, the WA network isn't connected via pipelines to the east. So it involved like a complicated process of shipping it. But really, the overwhelming majority of this gas is for export markets. So more than 85 per cent will be going to mostly Asia. So Japan, as well as China and South Korea. So the Northwest Shelf is largely an export project. Sam Hawley: Right. OK. But hang on. This sounds all very good for Woodside that will presumably make a lot of money from exporting this large amount of gas. But what do we actually get out of it as taxpayers? Jo Lauder: Yeah, it's a really good question. And so the Australian Institute, a think tank, they estimate that the Northwest Shelf extension is going to be receiving all up around $215 billion dollars of royalty free gas over that lifetime. And so at the same time, you compare it to the fact that Woodside paid $175 million in the petroleum resources rent tax on the Northwest Shelf project in 2022/2023. That's according to the Australian Tax Office. But also Woodside says, you know, across its whole business, it is amongst one of Australia's biggest taxpayers. So it says it paid more than $4 billion in taxes, royalties and levies in 2024. But the other issue as well is that this is a gas processing plant, but the gas has to come from somewhere from those different gas fields and the existing gas fields that are currently supplying it are running out. And so a bigger part of what Woodside's ambition is here is getting an extension. So there are plans in place to develop new fields and especially one called the Browse Basin. Sam Hawley: OK, so just tell me about this Browse Basin then. Where is that exactly and what do they want to do there, Woodside? Jo Lauder: So Browse is one of the country's biggest untapped gas basins and resources projects. So the gas reserves there are really significant. It's enough to meet the equivalent of Australia's demand for like 20 years. But it's quite remote. It's really far away. It's in a reef. And that's one of the biggest reasons it hasn't been developed up until this point. And actually, Woodside still needs to get approvals for Browse. It's before the Environment Minister, Murray Watt. And so that is to explore for gas beneath that marine reef system and then also to build a pipeline to connect the basin to the northwest shelf. So that's really the next stage here in this like this bigger project. Sam Hawley: OK, so Woodside has got this 40 year extension to its WA gas plant. But what it really wants now is access to the Browse Basin. And the concern about that is, is that the basin itself stores, Jo, a huge amount of carbon. Jo Lauder: Yeah. And understandably, like there's been a lot of opposition to this project from different climate groups. And it's something that is really concerned a lot of people. So the northwest shelf is already Australia's third highest emitting facility in the country. It produces around six million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year. And that's just what's directly produced at the facility. But on top of that, climate groups have labelled that potential extension of the Browse Basin that we were just talking about. They've called it a carbon bomb, which is their quote, because it's really emissions heavy. And this is even for gas, which is already a fossil fuel. It's got quite a lot of carbon dioxide. It accounts for about, I think it's around 12 percent of the field's reserves. And that's really high even for gas projects. And so environmental groups claim that this project could lead to up to 1.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions over its lifetime. And that's more than three times Australia's annual emissions output. So it's a really high number. Sam Hawley: Yeah, it's a lot. So could that then, Jo, delay our commitment and our target to meet net zero by 2050? Jo Lauder: So this is a million dollar question. And to understand that, you kind of need to know how we account for our emissions. So under Australia's emissions laws, actually all of them around the world, we only count the direct emissions. So this is in this case from extracting and processing the gas at the Northwest shelf. But because most of this gas is for export, as we were saying, the emissions that come from, you know, after the gas is sold, it's shipped and then it's burnt at its final destination. They don't count towards Australia's emissions. So towards our targets, they're what you call scope three emissions. So they're counted as emissions in the country where they're burnt. So as we said, you know, Japan, South Korea, China, they will count towards their emissions. So some estimates, if you added up the total from all of them, the total lifetime emissions from this project, some people have said it could be equivalent to a decade of Australia's current emissions. At the end of the day, you know, no matter where the emissions are counted, climate change is a global issue. So even burning that gas elsewhere, ultimately it still will affect Australia's climate. Sam Hawley: And a lot of people have actually been asking how this project got approved considering Australia's position and the government's position on climate change. Was it actually factored in to that decision? Was it discussed before this project was given the green tick? Jo Lauder: No, Sam, this is a really interesting quirk with Australia's environmental laws because under the current environmental legislation, climate change isn't actually a deciding factor. So it's not something that they are forced to weigh up the environment minister when they're looking at the project. And so a lot of experts have called out this, they've called it a massive loophole. And it means that Australia is still approving fossil fuel projects like this without explicitly considering the climate harm. And the environmental legislation is really old. It came in under Howard. And it was actually back in 2005, even back then, this was considered a loophole or an issue with environmental laws. There was a proposal to fix this by the shadow environmental minister at the time in 2005, Anthony Albanese. So he actually put a proposal before the parliament to fix what he called a glaring gap in the laws because climate change wasn't considered under these laws. Anthony Albanese, former Shadow Environment minister, 2005: The climate change trigger will enable major new projects to be assessed for their climate change impact as part of any environmental assessment process and will ensure that new developments represent best practice. We know that the Howard government has been considering and procrastinating on a climate change trigger since 1999. Jo Lauder: But you know, we're 20 years later. It's still the same issue that that loophole, that gap hasn't closed. And so instead, what has happened is Senator Watt has said the approval of this development is subject to strict conditions. The main one that they're focused on is around direct emissions or the direct air pollution that comes from the plant. The other thing is the Northwest shelf is regulated under our climate laws called the safeguard mechanism. But what happens is each plant has a limit. And so each year that goes down under this legislation. And if the plant doesn't come under their target, they have to buy offsets or credits. And that's what Woodside did last year for the Northwest shelf. So it'll continue to be regulated under the safeguard mechanism. Sam Hawley: So, Jo, what do you think? How would this be going down around the world among countries who are moving towards net zero? Is this really a good look for us? Jo Lauder: No, it's really not a good look. And I think a big part of that is this 2070 number this year. I think it's come as a real shock to lots of Australians as well, because I think the idea of net zero by 2050 is pretty firmly fixed in people's minds. And this approval is for 20 years past that. The other thing, Sam, is that Australia is really ramping up its efforts at the moment to become the host of next year's UN Climate Summit, COP 31. And these are major events. And there'll be so much scrutiny and focus on Australia's climate action. We've just recently had the latest figures out about Australia's emissions and it's not looking great. So our reduction efforts, they're kind of stalling. So they were slightly lower in the last quarter of last year. It was like 0.05 of a percent. But we're at the point where emissions need to drop if we're going to hit our 2030 target. And to get there, we're going to have to have consecutive years of pretty significant drops of around 3.6 percent or more. And so that's a really big ask where emissions are flatlining at the moment. Sam Hawley: Jo Lauder is a reporter in the climate team with ABC News. This episode was produced by Sydney Pead. Audio production by Adair Sheppard. Our supervising producer is David Coady. I'm Sam Hawley. Thanks for listening.
ABC News
8 hours ago
- ABC News
Scott Morrison receives country's highest honour for leading Australia through crisis
Scott Morrison has credited Australians for their "courage and resilience" in the face of crises, including the Black Summer bushfires and a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, as he received the country's highest honour for his leadership. The 30th prime minister has been appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for his "eminent service" to the country and direction of the national COVID response, as part of the King's Birthday honours. Mr Morrison was prime minister for just over three and a half years — between 2018 and 2022 — a period in which he said, "we were hit with pretty much every crisis you can imagine". "From natural disasters to a global pandemic, once in a hundred years, and of course the threats we faced in our region, and a recession caused by that global pandemic," he said in a sit-down interview before his appointment was publicly announced. "Through all of this Australians were just incredible and the one assumption I made is that that's how they would be — their character would pull them through and that's the basis on which we built the policies that helped us to achieve that." The AC is the highest award in the King's Birthday Honour List, designed to recognise achievements "in service to Australia or humanity at large". Former prime ministers are typically appointed, but the time between their service and the recognition varies. Mr Morrison's appointment — three years after he lost the prime ministership — also notes his contributions to international engagement, economic initiatives and national security, particularly through his role in securing the AUKUS agreement. The latter was named by the former prime minister as one of his proudest achievements in office, among other work he said his government undertook to strengthen Australia's sovereignty. "The resilience and sovereignty of the country, whether it was building our resilience against disasters of the future, having dealt with them at the time, our economic resilience, incredibly important, the way we bounced back after COVID was incredible, and we had invested heavily in our small business sector in particular," he said. "It really was about protecting our sovereignty and building that up so we could deal with the significant challenges into the future." Mr Morrison's term coincided with the height of the COVID pandemic, when international and state borders were slammed shut, Australians were locked down in their homes, and thousands of businesses were forced to close. Just months after the emergence of the virus in China, the former Liberal leader made the at-the-time unprecedented call to ban international travellers from entering Australia — a decision that likely staved off the crisis locally but also left many Australians stranded overseas and others separated from friends and family abroad. International borders remained closed for almost two years, only reopening to vaccinated travellers in early 2022 after the Omicron variant had swept the country. During the pandemic, Mr Morrison, along with then-treasurer Josh Frydenberg, also oversaw the creation of the almost $90 billion JobKeeper scheme wage subsidy scheme, one of the largest economic support programs ever introduced. Asked if he had any regrets from that era this week, Mr Morrison said you "don't get everything right, particularly when you face that many challenges". "But I tend not to dwell too much on that, because frankly there was just the next challenge coming the next day," he said. "You do the best job you can on the day and then you shake yourself off the next day and you do it all again." Mr Morrison left parliament at the start of 2024, more than a year after losing the 2022 election to Labor prime minister Anthony Albanese. The end of his prime ministership was mired in scandal, after it emerged he had secretly sworn himself into five additional ministries during the pandemic. This week he described those secret positions as a "latent redundancy that was never active". "These were unusual times and there were many things we did that were unusual," he said. Since retiring from politics, Mr Morrison has continued to advocate internationally for the AUKUS partnership, which he said remains "as strong today as the day it was announced" despite the arrival of the second Trump administration in the United States. He declined to comment on the current direction of the Liberal Party, which suffered one of the worst election defeats on record last month. But on its future, he said the party's principles remain "as important as they ever have been". "And they are ensuring a strong economy, a strong defence force, guaranteeing those services, responsible financial management — all of those things over the last 70 years and more have meant that Australia is in the strong position it is today," he said. "And for most of that time it has been Coalition governments that have been in government." Some 830 Australians — including Hollywood heavyweights, journalists, and community advocates — will be recognised in this year's King's Birthday Honours List.
