Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for her question and for her abiding support for the Australian Defence Force. We're all very proud of the work the Australian Defence Force does. We've seen over the course of the last two decades its involvement in Afghanistan and campaigns in the Middle East, which have directly resulted in a reduction in the number of terrorist attacks that otherwise would have taken place in our country and in other parts of the world.

Now, as we pivot to our region, to the Indo-Pacific, it is incredibly important that we continue to deepen relations with our near neighbours and with others who have an interest in continuing peace in our region. We have invested $270 billion by way of capacity building and capability building within the Australian Defence Force over this decade, so a significant investment into the equipment that will be deployed by the men and women of the Australian Defence Force in our region. It's incredibly important, because we need to stand up for our sovereignty. We need to make sure that we defend our values. We need to make sure that we don't back away from—

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