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

We even heard the shadow minister suggest that, if there wasn't increased spending, there should be resignations. I always think one should be a little bit careful going to this space, lest one establishes a standard for themself that they cannot meet. When you strip away all the moon barking, what we are left with is the shadow Treasurer saying that defence spending should be within the envelope which they took to the last election—that is, 2.1 per cent by the early 2030s. When the shadow minister for defence has been asked whether he supports an increase in defence spending, he has consistently said he can't commit. All the while, the Leader of the Opposition has been completely silent on this issue. What that means is that the policy of those opposite is 2.1. And what that means is a cut in defence spending. The Albanese Labor government is committed to increasing defence spending to 2.4 per cent of GDP to give us the surface fleet we need to keep Australians safe.

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