Pat Conroy (Shortland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the last member for his contribution, and I'll take his questions on notice.

I'm proud to serve in a government that's working so hard to secure our place in the region. At a time of such uncertainty, the Albanese government is investing in all aspects of our national power to keep Australia safe. Our National Defence Strategy recognises that our front line of securing our interest in keeping Australians safe is in fact our diplomacy. That's why in this budget we've invested so significantly in our diplomats, in our overseas network, in our bilateral and regional relationships and in supporting sustainable development across the Indo-Pacific. That's because the government understands that our future is inextricably linked with the prosperity and security of our neighbours and our region.

This budget will deliver $227 million over the forwards to improve our international communications, infrastructure and property, because you can't be an effective partner if you don't have the facilities there. We're providing $206 million to improve our presence across the Pacific, and we're matching our ambitions with the resources needed to do the job. Through this budget, we're providing $206 million in new official development assistance for new initiatives in the Pacific and South-East Asia. Through this budget, we're delivering on the groundbreaking Falepili Union with Tuvalu, including $110 million in total to support infrastructure, telecommunications, land reclamation and service delivery. Our investments in official development assistance are also worth highlighting. In 2024-25, we'll provide a total of more than $2 billion in ODA to the Pacific, a record level. We'll provide $1.3 billion of ODA to South-East Asia, and we anticipate hitting the threshold of providing $5 billion in total ODA next year, in 2025-26, which is a year earlier than we anticipated. These are all strong achievements of a government that's committed to acting in the national interest and putting the national interest ahead of political interests.

It was a coincidence, but a happy coincidence, that I'm following the member for Wannon's contribution, because I want to use a bit of time to reflect on how the coalition, the opposition, when given a choice between the national interest and short-term political interest, put their short-term political interest first. This budget is an example of that. The shadow minister's stance on the Pacific engagement visa was one of the greatest examples of putting petty politics ahead of the national interest. This Pacific engagement visa was a critical part of our strategy of using every tool of statecraft to advance our position in the Pacific region. By building the diaspora of Pasifika communities in Australia, we would build the people-to-people ties that are so critical to us being the partner of choice to the region. What did the coalition opposition do? They opposed it. You would have thought, after they spent 9½ years destroying our relationship with countries in the Pacific—you just have to look at the Pacific governments' attitude and public statements about Mr Morrison and at how they stuffed up our relationship with the Pacific—

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