Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party, Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

I'm happy to add to update the House on the vital contribution defence is making to the stability and security of the Indo-Pacific region and congratulate the work of my colleague the Minister for Defence Industry on the capability work that she is doing to ensure we have that capability ready to defend our region. She is doing a fantastic job.

We announced our Pacific Step-up in 2018. It has been regarded by the world as one of the most important step-ups in Australian history. It's at the epicentre of an increasingly complex and contested geostrategic environment. Two years later we face a post-COVID world that is poorer, more perilous and more contested than we could have foreseen two years ago. Our region has been hit hard by the economic impacts. I can attest to that form the conversations I've had in our region.. The geostrategic circumstances in our region are getting more challenging. not less. That's why we're investing in a capable and potent defence force. A strong, capable, properly funded defence force is critical to Australia's security and prosperity.

The Morrison Government, members opposite will be pleased to know, has delivered on our commitment to grow the defence budget to two per cent of GDP. It needed to be restored from record lows under the previous governments. The figures—if the member for Shortland wanted to hear them, but he has stepped out—are that this government is investing $575 billion in defence over 10 years, a record spend for an Australian government, $270 billion of which is capability acquisition. That is $270 billion in capability.

The 2020 Defence Strategic Update builds on the Pacific Step-up, of course—it has been a great success and has been received well in the sector—by focusing defence on our immediate region. The priorities of Australia are our immediate region. The Pacific Step-up and the strategic update put us in a stronger position to support our Pacific neighbours and our South-East Asian partners throughout the pandemic. The Morrison Government is delivering support that is COVID-safe and recovery focused. I am pleased to say that our personnel are working side by side with their counterparts throughout the Pacific Islands and in the region. During the height of the pandemic, when many were leaving the Pacific, I've made the point that Australia made the important decision to remain and assist and help out our Pacific family. It has been well received. The transformation of Fiji's Blackrock facilities is a great example of how we are getting on with the job in a COVID-safe way during the pandemic. We're also working in Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu on regional projects that are defence based. These projects are expected to create around 350 jobs in PNG, 555 in Fiji and 178 jobs in Vanuatu, with more to come. Never have these jobs been more needed than at this time.

We're investing an additional $124 million for security infrastructure, including for border and patrol boat outposts for the Solomon Islands. I've seen the economic and security benefits that our defence engagement has made for island communities in the Pacific. It is essential to security for our region.

A centrepiece of Australia's defence engagement in the South Pacific is of course the Pacific Maritime Security Program, a program which the Minister for Defence Industry is very familiar with. Under this $2 billion program, Australia is replacing our existing Guardian class patrol boats with the 21 Pacific patrol boats—new, larger, capable vessels supported by integrated aerial surveillance. Over the last two months we have worked with our partners and friends in COVID-free countries Palau and Tonga to hand over the new Guardian class patrol boats in Perth on 18 September and 30 October. I'm grateful to the member for Durack, who was able to assist with the handovers during the internal restrictions. We've safely brought their crews to Australia; we've taken them through the intensive training that they required; and we've been able to ensure that those crews have returned in country and those boats have continued to operate, fighting the good fight against illegal fishing, securing territorial waters and making sure that we have a secure and safe region. The Guardian class patrol boats are a great success story for Australia's growing defence industry, supporting about 400 direct and indirect Australian jobs.

The Morrison government understands we will need to bring together all our efforts to support the Pacific and help them recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and that is what I am doing. Sitting across multiple portfolios, bringing defence international development into a cohesive strategic initiative has of course—it's something I will speak about tomorrow in more detail. Our partnerships for recovery and our country specific plans, tied in with our defence cooperation programs and other defence programs, have made a big difference at this critical time. Our efforts have been well received by our Pacific family. It's in our national interests to keep investing and building security and stability in our region. I endorse this appropriation.

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