Brendan Nelson (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

It concluded that the Block II Super Hornet was the correct aircraft for Australia and that was the basis of the advice that was given to me in that respect. I would be very happy for the member for Hunter to be briefed in that respect. He might appreciate that not all of these things can be discussed in a public arena, but I will ensure that such a briefing is made available to him. To put it in plain language, if you are looking for a Ford performance vehicle, you do not go looking at Prados or Camrys. Our country is a Hornet country, and the JSF is the correct aircraft for us. There are a whole variety of reasons why we are certainly not looking at an F15 or any of the other aircraft that are being vigorously promoted by companies that would like to make money from selling them to us.

As far as the Amberley school is concerned, this is a consequence of a major investment in and expansion of the RAAF air base at Amberley under this government. The state school, which is owned, operated and administered by the state government, does need to be relocated because where it currently is will be adjacent to single living quarters, which is most inappropriate. The Department of Defence is not by definition an organisation that would normally be funding schools as such. However, it is my view that we do have a responsibility to make a contribution to the relocation of that school in partnership with the Queensland department of education.

When I say ‘we’, I mean the Commonwealth, which would mean, in part, the Department of Education, Science and Training and, indeed, the Department of Defence. I believe we do have that responsibility, and I have asked my officials to work accordingly in that direction. I appreciate that the member for Hunter has political cousins in Queensland who are currently in government up there. To be perfectly fair, I think the Queensland state government should—and, I expect, will—come to the party and that we should be able to negotiate a mutually acceptable arrangement.

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