House debates

Tuesday, 14 February 2023

Matters of Public Importance

Defence

4:17 pm

Photo of Rob MitchellRob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Nothing changes the fact that we've got those opposite talking about shells. It's just irrelevant. We're not in the Ukraine war, just by the way; that's Russia and Ukraine.

This is, I guess, about the inability of those opposite to stand up and take responsibility for the failure they were for nine years. Never once did they come in here and say, 'Let's work together and push and see how we can build Australia's defence capability in the future.' But the best they can come up with on the day that the Defence Strategic Review is being delivered, to talk about the future of the nation, is to run back to a time long ago. We've had nine years that didn't disappear off the Australian calendar. They were nine years of abject failure, and an abject waste of money that has left us facing $1.2 trillion worth of debt—and you delivered nothing. (Time expired)

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