David Fawcett (Wakefield, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for Defence. Would the minister inform the House how the government intends to strengthen the Australian Army? How will our security benefit from these measures? In particular, how will these measures benefit the community in Wakefield?

Brendan Nelson (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Wakefield for his question and for his long pre-parliamentary career in service to the Australian Army. The future of defence and security for our country is going to be most influenced not by what we know today but by what we do not. Based on a broad strategic assessment of the outline for the future in defence, the political will of the government to continually invest in Australia’s Defence Force and also a strong economy, the government has decided to increase the size of the Australian Army by two battalions, or 2,600 more soldiers, over the next 10 years. At a cost of some $10 billion, this means the Australian Defence Force will be, by the end of this further growth from six to eight battalions, the largest that it will have been for almost 30 years.

The 5/7 battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment in Darwin will be split into two battalions, and the 7th will go to Adelaide where it will be based in the electorate of Wakefield. Both battalions will be equipped with armoured personnel carriers. The 3rd Battalion RAR will move from Sydney to Townsville, which means there will be another battalion in Townsville. The 8/9 battalion will be reraised in south-east Queensland, at either Enoggera or Amberley.

It is extremely important Australians appreciate that we must not look only at our borders and the defence and security of Australia’s people, our interest and values. If you look through the south-west Pacific from East Timor through to the Pacific island state nations, it is clear that for the foreseeable future the Australian Defence Force is likely to be called upon not only to provide security, stabilisation and border protection and to assist in humanitarian disasters but also to support counterterrorism across our region. It is also very clear, from the point of view of the Australian government, that security and defence of this country will rely for the foreseeable future also on us appreciating the need to support actions in other parts of the world. What happens in Afghanistan and Iraq and the Middle East has everything to do with a secure Australia.

It should also be remembered that when it was in government, the Australian Labor Party, for seven years from 1989, stripped 6½ thousand soldiers from the Australian Army. This government is about replacing them and strengthening the Australian Army. This decision and this investment in Australia’s future and security is not about this year and it is not about next year; it is about the kind of Australia we want a decade from now, and the kind of security we want for our country and its place in the world. This is an important investment in people and equipment and the long-term security of our country.