Warren Snowdon (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence Science and Personnel) Share this | Hansard source

I cannot believe the cynicism; I am just scandalised. As you well know, the Prime Minister promptly corrected the record in relation to that commitment over 2020 to 2030. I am sure you would appreciate that sometimes, very occasionally, very rarely, almost never, but sometimes, these things happen. I would not be condemning the Prime Minister or, indeed, the department. I think we need to appreciate that sometimes these things do happen. We can accept the criticism but not the cynicism.

Since coming to government in 2007 this government has increased the budget for intelligence and security in defence from $376 million in 2007-08 to $517 million in 2013-14. That funding will increase to $637 million over the forward estimates—a further increase of $120 million, or 23 per cent. The Defence Intelligence and Security Group has been excluded from the efficiency dividend—I am not sure that you are aware of that. I am confident we will meet our commitments in that regard.

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