Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I thank the member for Menzies for his contribution. As a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, I seek to speak on the inquiry into the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for Australia's foreign affairs, defence and trade. I'd firstly like to thank the chair of the committee, Senator David Fawcett, and all members who have played a role in this report. I also want to thank the former deputy chair of this committee, Nick Champion, for his role in supporting this inquiry. I also welcome the secretary, Julia Morris, who started in her role recently, and thank the secretariat, Lynley Ducker, Stephen Sherlock, Peter Pullen and Dorota Cooley, for their work. I'm pleased to announce that I've been elected as the Deputy Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, a committee which does an inordinate amount of work for parliament, and I am proud to be a member and the deputy chair.

This report was largely undertaken via web based work and communication, which added a challenge to an already important piece of work. I would like to thank all of the witnesses who made submissions and took the time to give evidence during the inquiry. Thanks for your contribution. We can ensure that more effective action is taken to deliver these outcomes.

I want to take a moment to speak about the implications of COVID-19 as laid out in section 2 of the report and also note that I truly hope the government takes swift and decisive actions on all of the recommendations, but particularly recommendations 1, 2, and 3. Briefly, the committee recommends that, within 12 months, the Australian government define which critical national systems are essential to Australia's ability to function as a secure, prosperous First World nation. In recommendation 2, the committee recommends that the Australian government develop a national resilience framework to assess which elements of Australia's critical national systems are vulnerable to high-consequence supply chain disruptions. Thirdly, the committee recommends that the Australian government develop specific shared objectives with allies and regional partners to increase global support for the rules based order that underpins the global system of security, international relations and trade.

This truly has been one of the greatest threats to global health that our economy has witnessed in our lifetime, and all Australians should be incredibly proud of the resilience that they've shown during this pandemic. As a prompt to the government, one of the key lessons from COVID-19, as the chair pointed out in his remarks and foreword, is that we cannot return to business as usual. It is not an option for Australia, and this report provides us with excellent recommendations and evidence as to how we might move forward.

I commend the recommendations and the benefits they will have for the Australian Defence Force, particularly. We understand that, as a country and as a global community, we will never return to business as usual. Australia's island status has created a barrier that is both protective and precarious. Whilst we are girt by sea, it is across these seas that supply chains must span. This report and its recommendations help us in aiding industry and government to ensure that we are collectively resilient and that we continue to be a secure and prosperous nation in any future challenges.

I commend the report to the House.

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