Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

But, seriously, to make sure that the legal framework is as well-defined with respect to military bases as we have it in the states and territories of this country for civilians is the appropriate thing to do. The member for Fadden went through, at length, how this legislation operates, and I do not intend to duplicate what he had to say. Former Defence minister Senator John Faulkner said it pretty well when he said that the general right of self-defence provides the current legal basis for ADF personnel resorting to force. The legislation before us makes it crystal clear that those military personnel on the base would have every right to defend themselves and others until, for example, the police could take control of the situation and anyone arrested could then be charged.

One thing that the member for Fadden did not outline in detail was the inadequacy of the penalty for trespass on Defence premises. A $40 fine is grossly inadequate—$40 can hardly buy you a decent meal at a restaurant these days—so increasing the fine to $5,500 is appropriate in the circumstances. The importance of the Defence assets we have at our military bases can be summed up best by the fact that is quite commonly stated in my community, the Ipswich and West Moreton area: that the RAAF base at Amberley adds about a billion dollars a year to the benefit of the Ipswich economy and to those across the western corridor. Defence housing is created for the number of military personnel and civilians who work on the base, who spend money in the community, who worship in the churches, whose kids play in the sporting teams and who are involved in community life. They are people who come into and are part of the community. So it is an economic argument as well as an argument to protect the lives, liberty and property of Defence and civilian personnel on the base. Also, we have weaponry which we purchase at tremendous cost to the Australian taxpayer. For example, there are the C17s, which are massive transport planes, located at the RAAF base at Amberley. The F111s, which have served us wonderfully well for 40 years, are being retired and another lot of Super Hornets are arriving. As the Minister for Defence Science and Personnel said in answer to a question I put to him in question time last week, we will have 11 more come into Australia, many of them based at the RAAF base at Amberley in my electorate of Blair. We want to make sure that the military personnel there have the power to use lethal force if those military assets are at risk.

I welcome other parts of the legislation that deal with Defence security, particularly those giving the power to require identification, to conduct consensual and non-consensual searches and the right to detain a person until the arrival of the appropriate state or territory police. That is appropriate as well. The legislation has importance for my community in Blair and for communities across the country for the reason the Minister for Defence outlined in his second reading speech. He outlined just how many bases there are, how many assets there are, how many communities across Australia are affected by military personnel and how many bases there are which provide an economic driver in communities across the country. We are protecting not just our military assets but the economies of the communities across Australia with this legislation. And for that I am very pleased to support the legislation.

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