Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I echo the remarks of the chair of the committee. The committee does very important work, and, as the chair indicated, it has an extremely high workload—one that I've not experienced in my eight years in this place. Without giving the chair too much support, he does a reasonable job in that position; it's a very trying job. This report is really important. I don't often rise as the deputy chair when there are matters of agreement on these reports, but I want to make some comments.

It is incredibly important that we have a regime, like what will ultimately become the SAMS act, that protects intellectual property and the knowledge men and women have gained of tactics, procedure and methods whilst they've been in the ADF. When they discharge, those tactics, methods and procedures could be used against this country by a foreign adversary. It's very important that this bill, when it comes before the parliament—which is very shortly; today, I believe—is passed at least this week. I encourage the Department of Defence, who will be charged with the responsibility of ensuring as best they can that private industry is not adversely impacted—it's very important, particularly at the moment, where defence industry in this country is doing it very tough, that the defence industry is not bound up with unnecessary regulatory red tape. I'm not suggesting that the SAMS bill will provide unnecessary red tape, but it's really important that companies, businesses and individuals do not get unnecessarily delayed in their applications to the department. It is incredibly important, at a difficult time when we have cost-of-living pressures on every Australian, but particularly the defence industry. We need to be relying on defence industry in this country like no other time since 1945. We live in the most geopolitically, geostrategically difficult time since 1945. We need to be working government and industry hand in glove, so I implore the Department of Defence to do everything they can to ensure that applications by individuals are treated as expeditiously as humanly possible.

I support the report, I support the recommendations, as does the coalition, and the coalition will be supporting the bill when it comes before the House.

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