Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

You remember that line, do you? Let us give that line some substance on something that really matters. The Labor Party do not walk in here and lecture this side about Defence funding. Don't walk in and lecture about the cost of Defence and what we put in it. Don't do it, because it just won't stack up in terms of the money the Labor Party has provided and what this side has provided.

Every single man and woman of the government can stand up and back the threefold envelope that we took to the election. Everyone can stand up on that threefold envelope. Everyone can support no cuts to Defence. Every saving is reinvested and budgeted back to two per cent of GDP—something that the Labor Party could never, ever deliver.

I say to the member for Batman: there is a whole lot less spinning on this side and a whole lot more honesty. We would love to provide more for our fighting men and women but, when the Labor Party has left the cupboard bare and there is nothing in our hands to give because of what Labor has taken away, we are honest and upfront about it.

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