Defence Portfolio
Mr THOMPSON (Herbert) (18:01): I was very fortunate, when I was elected, to come in when the coalition was in government, and I want to say that, when we did consideration in detail, the ministers showed up every time. When the member for Durack was the minister for defence industry, she came in here, sat down, took notes and would stand up and answer the questions.
The member for the Riverina has also, as a minister, come in here and taken notes, because this is important. This is the time, during the consideration in detail, when the opposition gets to ask the minister questions. I'm extremely saddened to see not any of the defence portfolio or the Minister for Veterans' Affairs show up for this important time.
It is disrespectful for the brave men and women who wear the uniform to have this contempt by this Labor government. We hear all the time that we face the most challenging, strategic, dynamic and dangerous time that we've ever faced, yet we can't get a minister to show up to consideration in detail. This is the worst I've ever seen it, and this Labor government should absolutely be ashamed of themselves.
We've heard the minister, when in opposition, want to talk about 'name all these projects that aren't running through' or 'name this stuff that you're not going to continue with', but, under this defence minister and this Labor defence team, all we've heard is: 'Well, that's commercial in confidence. We can't talk about the cuts or the chaos. We're happy to go get a photo op.' What we haven't seen is any follow-up, and that is not good enough when we're talking about the defence of our nation.
On top of the cuts and on top of the deferrals, we've already seen the fourth squadron of the F-35s, the infantry fighting vehicles that should be rolled out now, cut from 450 to 129. The self-propelled howitzers, the Hunter class frigates, military satellites, integrated air and missile defence—that's not trimming around the edges. That's hollowing out the capability.
This minister needs to be honest with the Australian people and with the parliament and provide certainty of our defence industry and of our brave men and women who serve this nation and tell the parliament what defence capabilities will be cut, because lost capability, lost time and a defence force being stretched thinner is a more dangerous world. At the same time, the government claims they are spending 2.8 per cent of GDP on defence, but it's buried in the fine print, in a single line, that that is not true.
This Labor government is eroding the Defence Force capability and the trust that the Australian people should have in them. We get told by experts and by this government. They say that the threat is urgent and is at our doorstep, but this Labor government and its funding is acting like it isn't.
It's not just future capability at risk. It's our sustainment. It's our personnel.
People are getting out at a higher rate because of the lack of certainty. We're not fit to fight. We can't fight today because, every time there is funding allocated, it is stripped away or hidden in the fine print.
Somehow veterans' welfare and services are wrapped up into the defence budget that says that this is now exceeding the 2.8 per cent of GDP, which is clearly not true. There is no decision about what's happening for the east coast submarine base for AUKUS. Just $30 million has been allocated to kickstart a $12 billion project.
It doesn't match the scale. This government needs to answer questions. We need to back private capital to deliver defence projects.
What happens if the investments don't come through from the government? The government is banking on private capital to deliver key defence projects. What happens if they don't come to the table?
Does the government step up or does Defence take another hit? This government has a lot of answers, but the ministers can't even be bothered to rock up. I've got pages and pages of questions.
But, if the minister can't be bothered rocking up, the opposition will stand here and ask him and it'll just go off into the ether. I am disgusted by how this government is behaving when it comes to defence. The minister should be in here talking about what they're doing, what's been in their budget, so we can ask the questions and get the answers on behalf of the Australian Defence Force.
Shame on this Labor government. You're not fit to lead.