Defence Amendment (Parliamentary Joint Committee on Defence) Bill 2025
Mr NEUMANN (Blair) (17:41): I'm pleased to speak on the Defence Amendment (Parliamentary Joint Committee on Defence) Bill 2025. At the outset, this amendment to the Defence Act will create a new committee to oversee the Australian Defence Force, the Department of Defence, the Department of Veterans' Affairs and other key defence agencies, and will enhance oversight and accountability for defence operations and strategy.
This new joint statutory defence committee modelled on the Parliamentary Joint Committee for Intelligence and Security will be able to receive classified information to improve parliamentary scrutiny of defence strategy, policy, capability development, acquisition and sustainment contingency planning, and major operations. It strikes the right balance between safeguarding our national security and upholding the democratic principles of parliamentary oversight and accountability that Australia is known for.
The defence of Australia, its people and its interests is a government's most important responsibility. Australians should be assured that their parliament has an important role in debating such matters of national importance, including Australia's involvement in international armed conflict. This bill increases the transparency and accountability of government regarding decisions and policies relating to the defence of Australia.
In a Westminster style democracy such as ours, parliament plays a crucial role in providing this by scrutinising and debating the decisions of the executive government and the implementation of them by departments and agencies. This scrutiny is important in ensuring the best decision-making and the most efficient and effective use of taxpayer funds, along with a more informed parliament and, by extension, a better-informed public.
The Senate estimates process has provided useful and necessary scrutiny of defence, particularly of major capability projects, over the years, and will continue to do so should we be successful in establishing this new committee. In the challenging and complicated circumstances that we find ourselves in, it is necessary to ensure the parliament can examine these projects and Australia's defence strategies in greater detail in a classified setting with the appropriate safeguards in place.
This bill addresses that gap, injecting greater parliamentary transparency, accountability and oversight by establishing a new parliamentary joint statutory committee on defence, the PJCD. The establishment of the PJCD would implement a recommendation from an inquiry by the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, which I chair, into international armed conflict decision making in the last term of parliament, delivering on a commitment in the Australian Labor Party's national platform.
That inquiry ran from late 2022 to early 2024 following a referral from the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence in December 2022. The report, delivered in March 2023—Inquiry into international armed conflict decisionmaking—was ably chaired by a former committee member, the member for Bruce, who is now the Assistant Minister for Citizenship, Customs and Multicultural Affairs and Assistant Minister for International Education.
And I say he did a terrific job. It completed its examination of how Australia makes decisions to send service personnel into armed conflict. I pay tribute to the member for Bruce and the work he did.
Recommendation 6 recommended the establishment of a joint statutory committee on defence. The reasons are clear in pages 51 and 52 of the report. They are as follows.
It will improve parliamentary oversight of defence related matters, particularly where classified information cannot currently be accessed by parliamentarians or committees. It provides a venue to express well-informed support for ADF operations and personnel during times of conflict. In terms of defence, it will improve accountability and transparency on defence matters.
It also backs up what was recommended in a report done in 2018 named Contestability and consensus. That was a report done by the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, which recommended the establishment of a joint statutory committee. The 2018 committee proposed improving parliamentary engagement with and oversight of the Department of Defence and its portfolio agencies and that there should be a focus on the development and implementation of defence strategy.
Regrettably, the previous coalition government failed to accept that report and, in fact, rejected it. So this committee, led by the member for Bruce—the subcommittee on defence—recommended the establishment of this new statutory committee. During the inquiry that I referred to, it had support from the defence industry and stakeholders, because the evidence was that it would provide greater certainty to industry partners and that a cross-party approach would increase stability in Australian government policy.
In the course of that inquiry, we looked into international partners and what was done overseas as well. We felt, as I alluded before, this would enhance the confidence of the Australian public in the parliament's ability to oversee defence policy, acquisition and agencies. This is absolutely crucial work that was done by that committee, and I want to thank everyone associated with it and recognise there was a bipartisan committee, and it was recommended across the parliament.
Accompanying the work that was done there, there were some recommended changes to the Cabinet Handbook and new standing resolutions of both houses of parliament, suggesting the government had an historic opportunity to exercise leadership and establish this joint statutory committee that we're debating today. It will supersede and enhance defence related functions of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade.
And we recommended it be modelled on the PJCIS, ensuring that it does receive that classified information at briefings. As we said in our report, it's worth remembering that, in 1988, Prime Minister Bob Hawke created the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the ASIO, rejecting the advice of the Hope royal commission not to enhance parliamentary oversight of the intelligence agencies.
Bob Hawke was right, and history proves him to be so. We're emulating Bob Hawke's example and strengthening national security but enhancing the accountability of Defence to parliament. We know the Albanese Labor government is committed to transparency and accountability, and this bill is a classic example of what I'm saying and the evidence to back it up.
It was pleasing to see the government's response to that committee inquiry into international armed conflict in the last parliament. The government welcomed the principal finding that decisions regarding armed conflict were fundamentally a prerogative of the executive. The government also reaffirmed its commitment to improving openness and accountability and ensuring that parliament had effective mechanisms to examine and debate decisions.
In recognition of this, the government agreed to codify the practices related to informing parliament about these decisions. And the government, in the last parliament, agreed to establish this new statutory committee on defence called the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Defence, PJCD. This bill today gives effect to this by inserting a new part into the Defence Act 1903 to create a committee.
It is consistent with the joint standing committee's recommendations and is modelled on the Intelligence Services Act 2001, which establishes the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. It is really important that we do this, and it's interesting that the former government rejected it in 2019. How the bill will operate is as follows: the committee will replicate the PJCIS rules that stipulate a total membership of 13, with at least two government and two non-government members per chamber, with members to be appointed by the Prime Minister in consultation with the Leader of the Opposition.
That is a good thing, and that backs up what happens with the PJCIS. We envisage the committee membership would reflect the diversity of parliament, consistent with the PJCIS rules, and this would give the government the flexibility to appoint crossbenchers, should it wish to do so. The PJCD will be responsible for reviewing, monitoring and reporting on the administration and operations of all Australian Defence agencies, including the ADF, the Department of Defence and the Department of Veterans' Affairs.
The committee will not have oversight of those defence intelligence agency aspects which are presently under the purview of PJCIS. The bill establishes a broad range of functions that act as the standing terms of reference for the PJCD, which provides greater oversight and transparency. The PJCD will have the ability to inquire into other matters on a referral from a minister or either house of parliament as well as on its own initiative in the form of its 'own motion' power.
In recognition of the significance of establishing a royal commission, the committee will be responsible for monitoring and reviewing, on an ongoing basis, the Australian government's response to findings of any royal commission inquiries relating to Defence. This will be critical to monitoring the implementation and recommendation of the Royal Commission of Defence and Veteran Suicides, and the PJCD could play a useful role there alongside bodies such as the new Defence and Veterans' Services Commission.
Like the PJCIS, the bill would allow the committee to receive classified information and briefings in the course of performing its oversight functions. This would require the committee to operate in private in some circumstances and for limits to be applied to the information that might be provided to the committee and the disclosure of information received by committee to protect Australia's national security and tactical advantage as is appropriate.
The provisions of the bill relate to administrative operations of the committee, and the secrecy of provisions relating to classified information provided to the committee are consistent largely with the PJCIS. So the PJCD that we're seeking to create here not only replicates the integral core principles of the PJCIS; it would be world's best practice for parliamentary oversight and accountability on Defence.
The safeguards we're proposing around the operation of this new committee would mirror the PJCIS. But we're back here, debating this bill, once again. Why are we doing this in the second term of parliament when there was a joint standing committee, a bipartisan committee, and it was recommended to the government and the coalition initially expressed support for it?
There was a disagreement due to the committee membership. The coalition opposed the bill in the last parliament unless membership was restricted to government and opposition members, while the Greens sought guaranteed crossbench representation. The government would not agree to either proposal and the Senate ultimately negatived the bill.
The rest is history, so they say. Frankly, it was disappointing, because of the cooperation of both sides of parliament during the course of that inquiry that I referred to earlier. I've got to say that the Liberal Party and the Nationals chose to play political games, despite the fact that the former shadow minister for defence, the member for Canning, initially said it would be supported and offered bipartisan support.
Given the current strategic circumstances we as a country face, there is critical need for a committee such as the PJCD to be created. It would provide effective parliamentary scrutiny of defence in a classified environment. That the opposition would stand in the way of the establishment of the committee just to engage in political posturing and pointscoring was reckless and irresponsible, and it missed a real opportunity.
The government's position on this has been clear from the outset. The committee recommended that it be modelled on the PJCIS, which has long had bipartisan support. Going forward, I would hope that under the new leader, Sussan Ley, those opposite and the opposition leader would do the right thing and get behind this bill.
Given the bipartisan commitment we have to our national interests and national security, make no mistake: this is a real test for the Liberal Party and the Nationals. This bill we have reintroduced is largely unchanged from the 2024 amendment except for some minor technical amendments to reflect some recent legislative changes. Critically, the government has opted to maintain a flexible membership model to ensure the PJCD can adapt to the needs of parliament while maintaining robust oversight.
In summing up this bill and the establishment of a PJCD, it represents an important step forward in parliamentary accountability and transparency for Defence, which will strengthen parliamentary scrutiny of major acquisitions such as nuclear-powered submarines and allow members to question senior Defence officials on important strategic settings. It's a welcome and timely improvement on our current arrangements.
I'm confident it will help improve the long-term relationship and collaboration between Defence and the parliament. That's what this bill does and the new committee will allow for. It gets the balance right.
I thank the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence for supporting the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade's recommendations. I thank the Assistant Minister for Defence, the member for Wills, for bringing forward this critical reform. I acknowledge his work as the former chair of the PJCIS.
I note his experience, the deep knowledge of national security matters he brings and the bipartisan way in which he conducted his leadership of the PJCIS. I thank him for the work he has done over the years. I also acknowledge the current and former standing committee members and the inquiry chair, the member for Bruce, as well as the committee secretariat for their hard work on the inquiry.
I finally thank the many stakeholders and submitters who contributed thoughtfully to the committee's inquiry and those who carefully formed their views and the expert views which were drawn upon in our report, which ultimately led to this bill. Establishing this committee is a high priority for the Albanese government, and we're committed to doing so. I call on the parliament to take a bipartisan and collaborative approach and allow this bill and its enabling legislation to be passed.