QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Mr MARLES (Corio—Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence) (14:05): I thank the member for her question and acknowledge her service in the Australian Army Reserve. In the last financial year, 8,100 young Australians enlisted in the Australian Defence Force. This now takes the size of the full-time force to 64,000, the largest that it has been in a quarter of a century.

I really want to acknowledge the Minister for Defence Personnel because this is a result of intentional government action. Defence Force recruiting is now where young people are—less on TV and more online. We have shortened the recruiting time, which was at more than 300 days when we came to government.

It's now 263—still too high—but in areas of critical need like submariners and engineering, we've got that number right down. We've increased pay right across the force but particularly in areas of skill shortages like cyber and communication. We have a better offer in respect of housing.

We have a better offer in respect of education. In short, the Australian Defence Force is now just a better place to work, which is why the separation rate is now down to 7.4 per cent, well below the long-term average. It's important to also acknowledge the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, which has also played a role here.

We still do have a long way to go, but we really are improving defence culture, and it is a much safer culture. It's really pleasing that, in these numbers, there are now more women who are serving in the ADF. When we came to government, the Defence Force was shrinking.

In the last year, alone, of the former coalition government, it shrunk by 1,400. We've achieved this result by actually turning the ship around, because when those opposite were sitting in the chair, they were quite literally asleep at the wheel. The SPEAKER: The Manager of Opposition Business on a point of order?

Mr Tehan: Yes, on relevance. It didn't have a 'compare or contrast' or 'an alternative policy', and I don't know why the minister wants to make politics of this. Mr Burke: The final words of the question referred to getting retention 'back on track'.

That requires the minister effectively, in being relevant, to refer to what the situation was before we came to government. The SPEAKER: The Leader of the House is correct. There was an opportunity to open this up about the reasons why, but I just don't want the minister, or the Deputy Prime Minister, to simply have an attack on the opposition.

He'll need to explain what the reasons are, as he was asked about that, and under the standing orders is entitled to do so. So he is being directly relevant and he'll continue. Mr MARLES: The key reason was those opposite were completely asleep at the wheel, although probably not the member for Herbert; he would have been having a beer—not that there's anything necessarily wrong with that.

There's nothing wrong with that. Through activist policy, through focused investment, we are now growing the Defence Force again, which shows that, when you set the conditions right, young Australians are keen to wear our nation's uniform. That is the best part of this story, because, in this great news, the real credit lies with the thousands of young men and women across our country who are now making the remarkable decision to serve our nation.