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

I thank the member for his question. Today we have announced that, as of 1 July, we will be allowing New Zealand citizens who have been permanent residents of our country for at least a year to join the Defence Force if they pass all the appropriate security checks required for anyone who joins the Defence Force. That is a positive step forward in terms of increasing the pool of available people to join Australia's Defence Force.

This was flagged in the National Defence Strategy, which I announced just over a month ago, which indicated we would be looking to non-Australians to join the Australian Defence Force, with a view to dealing with the question of the recruitment and retention issues that we face within the Australian Defence Force—and not just that, but looking forward to 2040 to put ourselves in a position where we can grow the Australian Defence Force.

We know that, when the Leader of the Opposition was the Minister for Defence, we saw the Australian Defence Force shrink. That is the reality of what we have faced. Since coming to power, we have improved the offer in terms of terms and conditions to those who serve in our nation's Defence Force through a better housing package and through retention bonuses, such that the separation rate in the Defence Force has fallen. And, indeed, in respect of recruitment, we are starting to turn that around as well. But it is an important step to open the door to a broader range of people to join our Defence Force.

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