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

by leave—The Australian parliament has long enjoyed a generally bipartisan approach when it comes to the operation of its intelligence and security as well as defence mechanisms. I thank the new chair for his services; being a former defence minister of some repute, coming back into this scene is probably like pulling on an old glove! I also thank the member for Bruce, who I have enjoyed a very good working relationship with over the last eight years. I wish him well in his new job, but not too well!

I've previously served as the chair of this subcommittee, and I now serve as the deputy chair. I'm also the deputy chair of the PJCIS. From both vantage points I'm able to see how important it is when the two parties of government are able to work together with collegiality and consideration.

After all, members and senators, no matter their political party or their professional background, should share the same primary objective, and that, of course, is to protect Australians and secure their future.

As the deputy chair, I regularly meet with defence contractors, suppliers, policy experts and veterans. Over the last two years, those meetings have exposed the worrying trend and a disturbing truth that Australia is in a more precarious position than ever. We know that Australia is facing the most geopolitically unstable period since the end of World War II. China, Russia, North Korea, Iran and an axis of resistance and terror are set on sowing discord and dismantling democracies, including our own.

But what makes Australia's position so precarious isn't the strong alliance mobilised beyond our borders. It's the weak leadership we are seeing within the corridors of the federal government. Whether you look at personnel, procurement, policy or partnerships, you'll find the Albanese government lacking in the courage and conviction necessary to lead Australia forward. This has been a consistent trend when it comes to space and defence, where we are light-years behind our competitors and counterparts, thanks to this government's mismanagement in that regard. As Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Hamilton of Space Operations Branch at Defence Space Command said:

Space is fundamental to our warfighting ability, and losing access to space would significantly degrade it. We often take our access to space for granted; unfortunately it's not guaranteed.

In defence circles, we often talk about holding the high ground as being imperative to military operations, and space is the ultimate high ground. The reality is that, under this government, Australia's space and defence capabilities have been denuded. Labor removed space manufacturing from the national manufacturing agenda. In an affront to our US allies, Labor slashed funding for the $1 billion National Space Mission for Earth Observation.

What about defence project JP9102? This would have delivered Australia's first sovereign-controlled satellite communication system, shoring up our space defence surveillance and observation capabilities for a generation. For those of you who might be listening to this around Australia, this was our opportunity to build and launch Australia's first sovereign owned and controlled satellite—our first. Madame Deputy Speaker Chesters, do you know how many satellites the United States has? It has 1,800. Do you know how many the People's Republic of China has? It has 1,200. Do you know how many Australia has? None. We had an opportunity to build and launch our first sovereign satellite, and just a few weeks ago this government announced the cutting of that project JP9102. This government broke its first funding commitment through the Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator, putting innovators on notice that Labor can't be trusted.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to sit in on the AIDN symposium, and I listened with some attentiveness to the CEO, Brent Clark, talking about how this government is on a go-slow with the appointment of contracts for the defence industry. He gave the salient warning to this government that, unless and until it pulled its finger out and started awarding contracts to Australian defence industry contractors, next year, in 2025, when AIDN does its policy symposium, the theatrette of the Australian Parliament House would be full of Australian Defence Force officers, but there would be nobody from Australian defence manufacturing. That is utterly unacceptable.

Australian defence industry contractors are bleeding. They are dying a death by a thousand cuts.

What this government doesn't seem to understand is that, unless there is cash flow, small to medium-sized and even large contractors will not be here this time next year. Many of them won't be here at the beginning of next year. They are dying a death of a thousand cuts. I would plead with the Acting Prime Minister, the defence minister of this country, to ensure that money is pushed out the door. On the one hand, the defence minister talks about how we are in a perilous situation—the worst geopolitically strategic environment since the end of World War II—and yet we are not putting money out the door to feed Australian defence industry contractors. It just beggars belief.

The chair, very appropriately, talked about munitions productions. Let's talk about NIOA. Here's an Australian success story in the heart of regional Queensland. They've supplied our defence personnel and Australian industry with munitions for over 50 years. The coalition backed them as part of our ambition to establish a world-class defence industry. But, instead of getting behind Australian defence manufacturers and existing manufacturing infrastructure, this government chose to pop the champagne on a deal worth over a billion dollars in taxpayers' money to subsidise a foreign company—namely, Thales. Thales is a French company, partially owned by the French government, now competing with an Australian family owned business—no value for money, no transparency, no accountability.

Add to that the delay in the defence industry plan. What about the mismanagement of the Henderson precinct project? And, of course, this government dropped the ball and delayed material support for the people of Ukraine. They are presiding over a skilled workforce crisis, meaning that the skills we need to deliver AUKUS in cyber, construction and practical trades will be in short supply just as we need them most.

After pledging to boost our defence workforce, the government's consistent pattern of indecision and divisive politics has seen a decrease of 4,747 ADF personnel. To respond to the shortage of defence personnel, they're just lowering the target instead of upping their efforts. Shrinking the target doesn't excuse the Albanese government for their failures. The reality is that Australia's defence is at breaking point, putting lives and livelihoods on the line, and this Prime Minister just doesn't care. Small and medium enterprises dotted across regional Australia are fighting to stay afloat. Groundbreaking Australian researchers and world-class manufacturers are clinging on to the hope that our part-time defence minister doesn't wake up tomorrow and cancel their contracts.

Before I finish, I do want to thank all of those who provided submissions to the committee and I want to thank once again the new chair, the outgoing chair, the secretariat and our outgoing defence adviser, Julian Baesjou, who's done a sterling job over the last 12 months.

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