QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Mr CONROY (Shortland—Minister for Pacific Island Affairs and Minister for Defence Industry) (14:50): I thank the member for Makin of the state of South Australia for his question. Since 2022, the Albanese government has undertaken the biggest peacetime increase in defence spending in Australia's history. We're making this investment because the strategic circumstances we face demand it and because we're committed to ensuring that the men and women of the ADF have the capability they need to protect our national interests and keep us safe.

We're also doing this because investing in our defence and building our self-reliance and defence industry represents the progressive patriotism that is at the heart of the Albanese Labor government. But, with this record investment comes a responsibility—a responsibility to ensure that every dollar delivers value for money for taxpayers. That means ensuring that Defence has the structures, the focus and the resources to deliver the right capability projects on time, on scope and on budget.

That's why we're undertaking the biggest reforms to the Department of Defence in 50 years—because the truth is the system is not fit for purpose, and it hasn't been for well over a decade. One project that occurred under the Liberals when they were in government involved the Navy setting requirements that breached the laws of physics, then asking the defence industry to breach the laws of physics and then a defence company contractually agreeing to breach the laws of physics.

Then—surprise, surprise—a few years down the track, no-one could agree on what had gone wrong. The good news is we fixed it, but it's a symptom of a system that is broken. We've got committees that are meeting for hours on end without actually making any decisions, so things have to change because these projects matter.

We're talking about multibillion-dollar capability projects integral to the defence of our nation and to peace and stability in our region. Let me be crystal clear. This is not the fault of the highly skilled and experienced public servants in the department.

Defence personnel are some of the hardest-working, smartest and most committed in the game. But the systems were broken. A catastrophic mistake was made under those opposite in 2014 when they abolished the project management organisation and outsourced it to the private sector.

At the same time, they cut the defence budget by $20 billion, continuing the tradition that began under Menzies. The truth is they're big on rhetoric but weak on action. For our reforms, we're making sure that Defence is developing the capability projects we need.

We're setting them up for success so we can respond more effectively to emerging threats and support Australia's national interest. That's why you can only trust Labor when it comes to defending our nation.