Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Speaking of not being able to do your job: what did the member for Blair say when the Labor Party, in government, was cutting defence spending to 1.56 per cent of GDP? Did he go into the Labor caucus or the Labor cabinet and say anything? No—and he's just left the chamber now! It's not just what you say at the dispatch box or in this chamber; it's what you do in committee hearings, it's what you do when you're in caucus and it's what you do when you're in party rooms that make the difference. I'll bet that the member for Blair said nothing—absolutely nothing!—when Labor was ripping the guts out of defence spending to the tune of 1.56 per cent of GDP. That is the least that a government has spent on defence spending since 1938. And we all know, sadly, what happened in 1939.

That's the Labor way. Anyone listening to this debate will remember, all too well, how defence spending was cut in the years of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd government. It was pathetic. For the member for Blair to stand at the dispatch box and make out that Labor might have changed its ways, as if we have something to be sorry about—we have put investment in defence, in shipbuilding, in equipment and in personnel and people, and we will continue to do it. I hate to think what will happen if the member for Melbourne ever has a say in determining what Labor might do in a future Labor-Greens-'Voices of'-Independents alliance government. The member for Melbourne will have a big, big say. We already know he's belled the cat. He wants to cut national defence spending by up to 50 per cent. I tell you what; I won't cop it!

I'm the proud member for Riverina. Through Kapooka my hometown has basic training for every soldier who goes through that proud establishment. I know how important the Royal Australian Air Force is not just to our nation but to my hometown, to my electorate. If you spend any given time wearing the blue you end up at Forest Hill and RAAF Wagga, and we've also got a Navy base—all three arms of defence. We are the only regional inland city centre to be able to make that claim, to make sure we train our defence personnel to the greatest capability. Don't just take my word for it. You go anywhere in the world and people will tell you how good our Defence people are. And to think that Labor members and particularly the Greens leader are going to cut the guts out of defence spending if they get the treasury bench! That will be a shame, particularly at this time, when we've got the Ukraine situation, the situation in the Pacific rim and, of course, the ongoing situation in South-East Asia and elsewhere. This is a critical time not only to put more money into defence spending but to protect what we've already got, and those on the opposite side will not be protecting what we already have in the area of defence.

I listened very closely to the member for Grayndler, the opposition leader, talking about driving women's workforce participation. There is a good story to tell there too as part of the coalition. Indeed, the Morrison government's personal income tax plan has already delivered more than $14.4 billion in tax cuts to more than 5.2 million women; the number of women participating in the workforce is at a record level; and we heard in question time today that women's unemployment is at four per cent. They are good numbers. We should be proud of those numbers, and indeed we are. We should be extolling them in workplaces right across the country. There were 815,600 female business operators as at August 2021. We have put our money where our mouth is. We are making sure that if women can participate in the workforce—and we encourage them to do so—there are opportunities for them to pay less tax.

As for those opposite, what will they do if they get into government? They will jack tax rates up, because that's what they always do. They are reckless. They are chaotic in government. We saw that in those six sorry years, and the member for Blair knows it full well. He knows full well that they will cut defence spending and jack taxes up, because they've got form.

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