Stephen Bates (Brisbane, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Defence Trade Controls Amendment Bill 2023. This bill is part of a suite of AUKUS related legislation that aims to ensure that Australia's military export system is aligned with the US. It will cut Australia off from the rest of the world and tie us to the US; this is a precondition for Australia to receive nuclear submarines. This bill will effectively create a licence-free export bubble between Australia, the US and the UK, concerning military and dual-use goods. However, this bill also means that Australia will, effectively, be cut off from the rest of the world—as I said. It will mean harsher and wider restrictions in working with people outside of the Anglo bubble.

If this bill passes in its current state, researchers and businesses working with people from countries like South Korea or India on technology and research that is dual use would have to stop and get approval from the minister or risk 10 years imprisonment. This has drawn widespread criticism from industry and the higher education sector, who have raised real concerns that this new bill will force them to apply for thousands of new permits to do basic research and product development. This bill risks creating a significant disincentive for most of the world to work with Australian researchers and to trade critical technology, and it is not something that the Greens will support.

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