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

I thank the member for her question and acknowledge her service. On 9 February 2021, former prime minister Morrison attended RAAF Base Williamtown for a defence announcement. For those opposite, the substance of that announcement was less important than the theatre. We had Top Gun music. We had pageantry. We had hoopla. A year earlier, on 4 January, at the height of the Black Summer bushfires, those opposite produced an ad featuring the Australian Defence Force to raise money for the Liberal Party. These two incidents characterise the essence of the Liberals. As they see it, defence is all about politics; defence is all about them. But, while all of this was happening, our veterans, the men and women who have worn our nation's uniform, were suffering.

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