Matt Keogh (Burt, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question and for his great interest in expanding our Defence Force, because I think, as we all know in this chamber, it's important that we grow the size of the Australian Defence Force, especially given the geostrategic circumstances that we face. It's most unfortunate that, when we came to government, we faced a situation where the numbers in our Defence Force were going backwards. This has meant that we have had to be bold when we've looked at what to do to grow our Australian Defence Force. That has meant looking at issues such as how we can engage the permanent resident population of Australia. I was very pleased, along with the Deputy Prime Minister, to be able to announce earlier this week—

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