Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Defence Personnel) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Ryan for his motion and I'm pleased to support it. The ADF cadet program is a community-based youth development program focused on leadership and team building. At a time when other youth development programs are declining, the cadets remain a popular, respected and reputable youth program. The cadet program has been successful in appealing to a diverse audience, attracting a high ratio of young women into its ranks, as well as Australians from culturally diverse backgrounds.

For our part, Labor supported legislative changes, following the 2015 first principles review of Defence, to provide a clearer legal framework for the cadets. These changes established the cadets as a volunteer-based youth development organisation and enhanced the administrative oversight of cadets. A future Labor government will continue to support the cadets as an important youth development program, while avoiding an excessive administrative burden on the volunteers who make this program possible.

There are about 28,000 cadets currently enrolled in three cadet programs; about 4,200 officers, instructors and approved helpers who supervise and support these young people; and 584 ADF cadet units across the states and territories. I've had the privilege of engaging with a number of cadet units in and around the electorate of Blair, both Army and Navy cadet units in Ipswich, up at Milford Street; in Springfield as well, with the member for Oxley; and the Air Force cadet unit at RAAF Base Amberley, the largest Air Force base in Australia, in Ipswich in my electorate. I want to take this opportunity to commend all our ADF cadets and recognise the great work of the volunteer cadet leaders and staff, many of whom are parents or former cadets or veterans themselves, who give up their time to mentor these young people. Indeed, one of my electorate staff, Tyler Brennan, is a former cadet and now a cadet instructor. Thank you, Tyler, for the work you do with the cadets.

Cadets are an important source of defence recruitment for the ADF, with many going on to serve in a permanent ADF capacity or in the reserves. We on this side recognise this and the important role of the cadets and of a commitment to their continuity and growth. An Albanese Labor government will ensure a vibrant and well-equipped cadet program into the future. This is critical because, really, in many ways the current government has failed when it comes to the recruitment and retention of defence personnel. The cadets provide a conduit to the ADF, as youth sporting teams do to the NRL, the AFL, the AFLW, the A-League or any other elite sporting competition.

The latest Defence annual report shows that in 2020-21 Defence met only 90 per cent of the permanent force recruitment targets, and we know it has failed to meet the 2016 Defence white paper targets every year since 2015-16. At the same time the 2020 Defence strategic update and the 2020 Force structure plan showed that workforce costs are set to fall as a percentage of the defence budget while capability acquisitions will rise. In other words, investment in defence people and defence jobs is significantly lower than spending on capability and procurement. Given the government is failing to meet its current recruitment targets and that personnel shortages are already impacting the ADF, this could become a pressing defence capability issue in the future.

Back in 2020, as part of the defence strategic update, the government promised to deliver a new defence workforce strategy in the following year, 2021. Well, 2021 came and went, and they failed to release it. Now we hear that the government will release the defence strategic workforce plan in early 2022, a year late. We understand it has been delayed by the new AUKUS agreement between Australia, the UK and the USA. That's disappointing. It puts obviously national security issues front and centre. Of course, there's no guarantee the government is on track to meet the current white paper target of 62,400 personnel, so we need to see the new workforce plan as soon as possible if we're going to have enough people, both permanent and reserve, to operate the ADF.

The government talk a big game when it comes to defence, but the reality is they have failed when it comes to not only defence capability and major acquisitions but recruiting and retaining enough ADF personnel to keep this country safe now and in the future. For nine years they have had no credible plan to grow the ADF. That's where the cadets come in. We commend the cadets. They play a key role in the pathway to ADF recruitment. I commend the work they do. I thank them for what they do. I thank the instructors and helpers in the cadet units around the country. Labor will continue to support this important youth development program.

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