Mal Brough (Fisher, Liberal Party, Special Minister of State) Share this | Hansard source

I present the explanatory memorandum to this bill and move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

Today I introduce the Defence Legislation Amendment (First Principles) Bill 2015 to amend the Defence Act 1903. In 2013 the government made an election commitment to deliver a first principles review of Defence. The report on this review was released on 1 April 2015. The review determined that, while Defence has an outstanding operational record, it is clear that there needs to be a better balance between operational excellence and organisational effectiveness. To achieve this better balance the government has begun one of the most significant reforms to ensure Defence delivers the capabilities we need to ensure Australia is safe and secure.

The government engaged a number of prominent and experienced individuals to conduct the 'first principles' review. The review made 76 recommendations, 75 of which were agreed or agreed in principle by the government. The coalition and the Defence senior leadership are committed to delivering on all of these recommendations. This requires Defence to move from its current inefficient federated approach into a single integrated organisation that delivers enhanced joint capability.

A key recommendation of the review was to establish a strong strategic centre to strengthen accountability and top-level decision making in Defence. As part of the focus of the joint force, this review highlighted the need to update legislation to formally acknowledge the key role played by the Chief of Defence Force, the CDF, and the Vice Chief of the Defence Force, the VCDF, in a modern Australian Defence Force.

The bill amends the Defence Act to formally recognise the authority of the CDF and the VCDF so that the CDF will have full command of the Australian Defence Force by removing the legislative limitations on the CDF's command power. The VCDF will be recognised as the deputy of the CDF. This amendment will clarify that the VCDF has command responsibility as well as administrative responsibilities in relation to the Defence Force, as directed by the CDF, and that the service chiefs will be explicitly subject to the direction of the CDF.

A legislative amendment removing their statutory authority will ensure absolute clarity of the CDF's command and authority. This bill seeks to make some other changes to streamline the legislative foundation of the Australian Defence Force. In addition to strengthening the command roles of the CDF and VCDF the bill also streamlines the statutory treatment of the components of the Australian Defence Force in the Defence legislation, repealing the Naval Defence Act 1910 and the Air Force Act 1923, incorporating substantive provision of these acts into the Defence Act 1903.

These provisions include the recognition of the Regular Army, the permanent Air Force and the permanent Navy together with the reserve components of each of the services and the ability of the Governor-General to call out the Australian Defence Force reserves, under certain circumstances. These circumstances include wartime, peacekeeping operations, support to community activities of national or international significance, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

Finally, the bill also consolidates the statutory treatment of the Defence Force Cadets, making provision for the Australian Navy, Army and Air Force cadets in a new part of the Defence Act. The bill also modernises the existing provisions to ensure the relationship between Defence Force Cadets and the Defence community is interlinked. The bill also makes it clear that the Defence Force Cadets are a volunteer, community based youth-development organisation. These provisions include the stipulation that cadets and their instructors and officers are volunteers and not members of the Australian Defence Force, not officials for the purpose of the public governance and performance act 2014, and are administered by the CDF.

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