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

The Minister for Defence is more interested in playing the back nine than he is in looking after the members of the Australian Defence Force, and that has been evident with what we've seen lately, but it's what we have been seeing since this Minister for Defence came to office. He's a part-time minister. He is the Deputy Prime Minister and then wants to moonlight as the Minister for Defence. Government members have now come in and said how bad the coalition is. Well, at the end of the day, you guys have the big seats, right? You've got the big offices, and it's up to you to make sure that our Defence Force are supported.

Right now, they're not. We have a record amount of people discharging from the ADF, and we need to ask the question why. They don't feel supported at all. We've seen that just recently. In the front page of the paper today, it says 'Aussie troops thin on ground'. That was the front page of the Townsville Bulletin. That is the home of the Australian Defence Force. It's the capital of the Australian Defence Force. More people are getting out every year, because they're not supported.

A way that this government should have supported the Australian Defence Force is by supporting those who gave up so much of their time, spent time away from family, to help out during Operation COVID-19 Assist in the pandemic. They helped out on the borders. They answered the call, many for weeks, sometimes months, on end. I wrote to the Minister for Defence saying that these members of the ADF deserve the National Emergency Medal, and it was rejected. In the letter I got back just before, the minister said that due to the circumstances and nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, recognition of service under these circumstances is not considered appropriate. What a slap in the face to all of the ADF members who helped this nation, who answered the call, who put themselves and their families at risk to keep the community safe, who went into the border to help out this nation in the time of a pandemic. They have now been told that they don't deserve the National Emergency Medal—they don't deserve any recognition. I think it's disgraceful.

It was also disgraceful to hear the comments from the Minister for Defence this week where he said:

… there is a way to go before we have that culture of excellence in the Department of Defence and the Australian Defence Force.

That is ridiculous. To say that the brave men and women who put on the uniform every day do not have a culture of excellence is a disgrace. It is absolutely disgraceful. I got so many phone calls, emails and texts from people who are still serving who say that they're absolutely doing everything right. They stand up every day. They want to be counted. They want to help. They put on the uniform for a life of service. To hear their minister say that they do not have a culture of excellence, I think, is disgraceful. It just shows the lack of interest this part-time minister has in supporting the brave men and women of the ADF.

We've seen cuts and slashes to defence industry, with the number of infantry fighting vehicles to be purchased cut from 450 to 129. We didn't see any government minister at Land Forces. They couldn't be bothered showing up. That is the largest defence industry event, and we didn't have any of the government ministers there. That is not just shameful; it's disgraceful. And to have the Minister for Defence Industry stand up in here and say all those nasty things about the second gulf war and Vietnam just shows how out of step this government really is when it comes to protecting and serving for the Australian Defence Force.

During question time today we heard the Minister for Veterans' Affairs—he's not in cabinet, so the Minister for Defence takes ownership of that in cabinet—talk about how great the Department of Veterans' Affairs is going. Well, I can tell you what happened just yesterday. An Afghanistan war veteran, Paul Warren, who lost his leg, had had his prosthetic leg snap. He rang up the department said: 'My prosthetic leg snapped. I need support.' They said: 'Just go hire a wheelchair. We'll have to get back to you soon. You'll have to go find a specialist appointment.' What a disgrace.

These issues are currently happening to our veterans, but we don't hear anything from ministers about it. They want to push it away, push it under the rug. This goes back to the heart of this MPI. If you don't treat your veterans well, you're not going to get people signing up to the ADF. If you don't treat your current serving personnel well, you're not going to get people that want to sign up. This is ridiculous, and the minister should be in here listening to these speeches. Instead of playing golf, they should be sitting in here answering these questions.

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