Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

The motion continues:

(b) cut the real pay, Christmas and recreation leave for Australia's Defence men and women; and

(c) insulted the highly skilled and dedicated workers at ASC on 25 November 2014 by saying he "did not trust them to build a canoe";

(2) calls on the Prime Minister to immediately attend the House and confirm:

(a) why he has failed to direct the Minister for Defence to withdraw his insulting remarks; and

(b) whether he retains full confidence in the Minister for Defence; and

(3) should the Prime Minister fail to attend the House, that the House:

(a) condemns the Prime Minister for his failure to stand up for Australia’s Defence personnel; and

(b) calls on the Prime Minister to sack the Minister for Defence.

These are most important matters which do need to be debated by the House. We have seen chronic underperformance in the Defence portfolio since this government was elected. We have seen this government systemically undermine security by trashing confidence in our platforms and capacity; undermine the reputation of Australian industry and the economy more widely; and destroy the morale of the Royal Australian Navy and their confidence in their ships and submarines.

The comments by the Minister for Defence will affect recruitment and retention in the Navy. It is—not that the government would care about it—a shocking insult to the thousands of Australian men and women working at the Australian Submarine Corporation. Indeed, this is part of the consistent record of incompetence and intemperance that we see from this minister. Does the defence minister still have the Prime Minister's confidence?

This motion should be debated. After the defence minister's bombshell yesterday, where he trashed the reputation of our submarine builder, we saw the Prime Minister last night issue a startling repudiation of the Minister for Defence's comments. But does this hapless defence minister realise the hot water he is in? Not at all. That reflects his general lack of awareness of his portfolio. But this morning the opposition are saying: if the government want to draw a line under this Defence confusion, this melee, then the Prime Minister should come in and simply say those magic words which every minister on the ropes, every minister cut adrift, has desperately wanted to hear from their leader: 'I have full confidence in the minister.' There is deafening silence. The Minister for Defence has been abandoned by his government—but there are good reasons why the Minister for Defence should be abandoned by his government.

Let us have a look at the last 15 months of chronic failure. This is a government who has let Australia's defence capacity down. There has been no progress on the Land 400 project to replace our armoured vehicles. The SEA 1000 Future Submarine is an absolute debacle, where we see decisions made about where we spend billions of dollars—

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