Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

[inaudible] be keen to have the opportunity to add to this answer. The fact is that what we have done is produce a defence strategic review aimed at what assets Australia needs to defend ourselves, where they should be placed, and actually delivering it. You can't defend your country with a press release, and what we saw from those opposite is a press release. Indeed, the member himself, who served as the Assistant Minister for Defence under the Leader of the Opposition—the new 'dream team' here, the new 1 and 2 dream team—said:

As the assistant defence minister, I saw a lot of waste. And there are always savings to be made. So we're not arguing that there should be no cuts. We just want to make sure that these are done in a considered way if they are done and we also want certainty. … funding AUKUS will require sacrifices …

That's what the former assistant minister for defence said, answering his own question—this is questions and answers from the one side today!

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