Greens Defence Spokesperson David Shoebridge says he is “highly sceptical” of Labor’s defence announcement because it has taken them two years to make “any of the hard decisions” they should have made.
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.
“People should be highly sceptical of Defence’s capacity to deliver any of this, and it’s a pretty remarkable outcome,” Mr Shoebridge told Sky News Australia.
“Labor has spent two years in office doing this review – during those two years, failed to make any of the hard decisions.
“It’s a remarkable situation Labor’s found themselves in.”