Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

If you want an example of why you should not vote for the Greens, we just heard one from the member for Griffith. For the member for Griffith or anybody who is even contemplating voting for the Greens at the next election or any election, here is a bit of a history lesson. It's called 1942. In 1942, we faced an existential threat. Our traditional ally up until 1942 was mother England, but the Labor government of the time—rightfully, in my view—changed this. As a result of the fall of Singapore, Australia was in great peril. Who came to the aid of Australia? Who was it? It was the United States. The United States came to the aid of Australia in the Battle of Guadalcanal. Thousands of Marines from across mainland United States came to a place that they had never heard of to fight a war that they really didn't have a fight in, and thousands of them died. Thousands of them fought to defend Australia. The Battle of Milne Bay and the Battle of the Coral Sea changed the face of World War II. But for the actions of the United States in literally saving Australia, Australia would look very different today.

But the Greens would have you believe that all of that is in the past, that we ought not even consider these things. My grandfather served in World War II. He served on HMAS Kanimbla. I grew up as a young boy constantly hearing this sentence—it's really simple—'Thank God for the Yanks.' I grew up hearing that time and time again because the reality was that Australia in 1942 could not defend itself. Today in 2024 Australia can't defend itself. That is a shameful position to be in. But the reality is, peer on peer, if we were to face a peer competitor, Australia would not be able to defend itself on its own, in the same way that we were not able to defend ourselves in 1942.

They say if you refuse to look at history you're destined to repeat it. If we did what the Greens want to do as is in their political manifesto we'd decimate the Australian Defence Force. That's exactly what the Greens want to do. At a time when we live in the most geopolitically unstable period since 1945, the Greens want to decimate the ADF. That's what they want to do. They want to decimate the ADF. They want to rip the guts out of funding for it. They don't believe in defence. They don't believe in ADF personnel. It's very clear. I'd love to know how many Greens members are protesting—

I'm surprised you're here today and not in Melbourne, Member for Griffith. I'm surprised that the member for Griffith is here and not in Melbourne, supporting his mates throwing rocks at VicPol.

But I digress. I apologise for digressing. The member for Griffith winds me up because the member for Griffith and people like him have no appreciation for history and have no appreciation for the loss and sacrifice that generations before us have made. They think that this democracy that we live in today just kind of appeared. The lives which we enjoy today in this country came off the back of service men and women from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Great Britain and the United States. It didn't just happen. It is because countries like us stood up against tyranny in both World War I and World War II and said: 'We will not stand for this. We know it's going to cost money. We know it's going to cost lives, more importantly. But when countries do not stand up against that sort of tyranny the world falls apart.' But for the Greens it's all peace, love and mung beans, baby, and it doesn't matter because the world is a beautiful place.

Try telling that to the Ukrainians. Try telling that to the Israelis. Try telling that to so many other countries that have been violated, invaded and attacked. Life just doesn't work like that. In a nirvana, it would be wonderful. It would be wonderful, wouldn't it, shadow Treasurer, if you didn't have to find the sort of money you'd need to fund our Defence Force? In a nirvana, it would be perfect. But you know what? We don't live in a nirvana. Sadly, we live in a world where people like the President of Russia have invaded Ukraine. President Xi has told his senior military to be prepared to take Taiwan by force, if necessary, by 2027.

That is why this bloke, at the next election, will need to find the money to fund AUKUS. That is why Jim Chalmers, the current Treasurer, has to find the money to fund AUKUS. Parties of government have a responsibility to ensure the peace and security of this country. Parties like the Greens and Independents can promise the world and give you an atlas. But, sadly, we live in a world that is the most geopolitically unstable. Almost everybody agrees with that—since 1945. That is why this bill, that is why AUKUS, is so incredibly important. It's not just about nuclear powered submarines. There is so much more to AUKUS than submarines.

I welcome the Minister for Defence into the chamber because the member for Griffith and I have just had a wonderful exchange about the need to properly equip the ADF with some of the most stealthy submarines available today. I reminded the member for Griffith that peace comes at a price. There's a very old phrase that has been bandied around for millennia. You know the phrase, don't you? The phrase goes something like, 'If you want peace, prepare for war; if you want to provoke your enemies, then be weak.' That is exactly what would happen if the Greens ever had control over the government Treasury benches.

We face a very real prospect. And I'm really pleased that the Minister for Defence is in here right now because I earnestly believe—and I'm probably going to regret saying this in public—that the Minister for Defence is a good man. It's true. I do believe he's a good man. I do believe he has the interests of this country at heart. We face a very real prospect at the next election that Labor and the Greens will be in some sort of a power-sharing arrangement. It'll be a power-sharing arrangement. It'll be a coalition. God knows this bloke could be the new defence minister because he's so committed to the defence of this country! And the Greens will say to the Prime Minister, if it comes to this, 'If you want to remain Prime Minister, Prime Minister, you need to have us at the cabinet table. You need to have us at the policy formulation table.' The Greens will exact a very heavy price, Minister for Defence. You know that. I know that. We know that on this side. The Greens will exact a very heavy price on this government.

And you know what? I hope we win the next election. I really do. That's what we're fighting for. But do you know what? If we don't win it, I hope the Labor Party win a majority government, because the worst thing that could ever happen to this place, to this country, is you guys ever being in a power-sharing arrangement with the Greens. God help us. God help this country if the Greens are ever sharing power with the Labor Party again, just like they did in the last Labor government.

I'm making a plea to anybody who's watching this, anybody who is even thinking remotely about voting for the Greens. In the words of President Biden: 'Don't.' Don't do it, because you will significantly weaken the defence capabilities of this country and the region. It would not even surprise me if this government came under pressure on all things that we don't want to see. So I also want to encourage the government not to accept preferences from the Greens, the Member for Griffith et al, because of the reasons I have outlined about a power-sharing arrangement between the Greens and the government, which would only come into force by virtue of a preference arrangement.

I've sat and watched in the chamber for weeks and months as the government and the Greens fought over this, that and everything, but, if the government is so against what the Greens have been doing in recent times, particularly in relation to Gaza, then the Labor Party should stand up and say: 'Well, you know what?' Just as they said to us decades ago, 'You shouldn't accept preferences from One Nation,' I say to the Labor Party, 'You shouldn't accept preferences from this mob, because they will bring you down.' As sure as God made little green apples, this lot will bring you down. Not only will they bring you down; they will make this country a far less safe place than it is culturally, defence-wise and certainly economically. We cannot afford a situation where these guys get anywhere near the Treasury benches, because it will ruin this country.

Anybody who is listening to this on the radio or watching this: you probably need to get a life! But I would encourage you: please don't support the Greens.

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