Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

If history has taught as anything, it's that the last thing we should ever do is cut spending to defence, especially as we face the most uncertain global strategic environment in our generation. As a former infantry soldier I've spent a lot of time with people on the ground, the ones who feel the effect of government decisions. We need a government that invests in its people. This government needs to ask the questions about capability and kit to the people who use it every day.

You must remember that you are the party and you were the government that cut defence spending to its lowest levels since the 1930s. Under the last Labor government, defence spending as a percentage of GDP dropped to 1.56 per cent. That compares to 2.09 per cent in our last year as the previous government. Those figures correlate with what we see on the ground.

I remember being in the Army when Labor was in power. It wasn't hard to see the effects of the cuts to spending—MCBAS, for example, which is body armour. You couldn't shoulder your rifle to get into the fight if you needed to, because it was poor kit. It wasn't good. It was a failed bit of kit, and it was because the people who made the decisions didn't talk to the people that used them. You need to be speaking to the soldiers, the aviators, the sailors, the people that use the equipment every day, not listening to people that sit in here or that maybe sit at the highest levels at Russell. You need to be speaking to the people that use it—the people that are at the tip of the spear when it comes to conflict.

That means investing in the right areas at the right levels at the right time. That's not always easy, but it's our job as people who hold the positions that we do in this place. It's the job of the Deputy Prime Minister and his team of defence ministers to listen and to act. It is the job of those of us on this side of the House to do the same. That's why it's important that we continue to implement and develop the AUKUS partnership and make the most of that huge and historic strengthening of our strategic posture.

We're already seeing the Defence strategic review be used to disguise cuts to defence, like we saw under the previous Labor government. The Deputy Prime Minister, the part-time defence minister, has flip-flopped on his position on announcements on major coalition initiatives in the portfolio. Take the acquisition of the Black Hawks from the US to replace the MRH90 helicopters. At first it was said that the Black Hawk decision was under review as part of the DSR and no decision on it would be taken until the outcome of the review was announced. But then, 145 days after he said that, and months before the DSR is to be finalised, he announced the acquisition is going ahead. So what is it, Deputy Prime Minister? Are these decisions subject to the DSR or not? That's leaving aside the fact that the 5th Aviation Regiment has now had cuts to its capability as Black Hawks won't be based in Townsville, leaving no replacements for the MRH90s that are there now once they're phased out.

Then we have LAND 400 phase 3. That decision was meant to be made months ago, but, again, the Deputy Prime Minister has said that is subject to review. Does it mean that we might not have an infantry fighting vehicle in the future? We don't know. There are units of the Royal Australian Regiment at Lavarack Barracks in Townsville who are using APCs. They are World War II relics. They are in museums around the country and around the world.

It's absolutely critical that this new Labor government does not continue along the path of its previous term. We are feeling the effects of those cuts and, as I have outlined, we are seeing the signs of the same approach being continued. We must invest in the people that keep us safe. We must invest in the people that do a job that many people don't want to do or haven't done. We have right now the 3rd Battalion using infantry fighting vehicles that are APCs. They can't train properly in them. They definitely can't fight in them. They don't manoeuvre like any of the LAND 400 vehicles.

The defence of our nation is of critical importance, and we cannot afford to cut costs with our national security. Our approach is that, whilst members in the government have not liked things that have been said, we will work constructively and we will put our brave men and women first, because they are the ones who stand up every single day in support and defence of this nation.

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