Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition's information is very out of date, and he knows it. This government inherited an AUKUS announcement without much delivery. The capability gap which loomed as a result of the lost decade from those opposite as they were in and out of a subs deal with Japan and in and out of a deal with France had absolutely no answer to it, and there was the real prospect of there being a contest between two of our closest friends and allies as to who would provide us with a submarine. I can inform the House that the announcement that we will soon make will deal with the capability gap and is a genuine collaboration between all three countries.

The difference between the coalition's announcement on AUKUS and every other announcement that they made on defence in the last 10 years is that this time Labor is going to do the delivery, so it's actually going to happen. Over the last week, we've watched the Leader of the Opposition lay down markers, hedge his bets and try to have it both ways. The question for the opposition is very simple: when the government makes its announcement with the United States and with the United Kingdom about the future submarine capability that Australia has, will the opposition provide unconditional and unqualified support so as to provide bipartisan support in the national interest, or will they continue their subterranean commentary so as to position themselves for their own political interest? That choice is all theirs.

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