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

My question is addressed to the Minister for Defence. Would the minister outline to the House outcomes from the recent APEC meeting that will further strengthen the ANZUS alliance and Australia’s defence capability? Is the minister aware of any other approaches?

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 his tireless work for the people of his community and, prior to that, his distinguished service in the Australian Army.

No Australian should forget that, in 1942, the United States, in the Pacific, the Coral Sea and Guadalcanal, made significant sacrifices in support of Australian troops to secure the freedom of this country. Last week the Prime Minister and the President of the United States made two significant announcements and signed a document which will further enhance our alliance.

The Australia-US alliance is essentially about capability. It is about making sure that Australia has access to the most technologically advanced and sophisticated military equipment. It is also about intelligence, and the exchanges between the US and Australia now are approaching seamlessness. It is about interoperability—making sure that every piece of equipment that we purchase for Australian troops can be used and works with that of the United States. The US and the alliance of course play a key role in the architecture of security in our region and for Australia.

Over the last six months, the Australian government, and I and my department, have been negotiating with the United States on two issues. The Prime Minister last week, on our behalf, signed the US-Australia Defence Trade Cooperation Treaty. What this means, in plain language, is that, for the 300 small and medium enterprises in the defence industry here in Australia—which employ about 20,000 Australians and include Australian Aerospace, Tenix Aerospace, Raytheon and BAE Systems in the electorate of Wakefield, and which provide real jobs for real Australians—an enormous amount of the red tape and difficulty which they encounter in accessing US military technology will now be overcome. Last year we had about 2,700 licence applications for which the average delay was 90 days; 240,000 days were wasted last year by Australian companies trying to get access to US technology and military data. Now we will be able to cut through all of that.

The other announcement which the Prime Minister made with the President is that we will increase the presence of the United States in terms of its military equipment and capability here in Australia. There will be an increased presence here of US military capability for disaster relief and humanitarian assistance. We will also work more closely on, and have an increased presence in, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance, and we will also increase our joint training with the United States here in Australia.

It is worth reminding the Australian community that the Leader of the Opposition is very fond of saying that he and his party believe very much in the Australia-US alliance. We may choose to accept that assertion at face value, but, prior to the 2004 election, the Australian National University conducted a scientific survey of Labor Party candidates. It was very interesting that 22 per cent—in other words, almost one in four—of members standing for election in 2004 for the Aust-ralian Labor Party believed that the United States was a threat to Australian security. Furthermore, only 40 per cent agreed with the proposition that the alliance was very important for Australia’s security. No-one should forget that the people sitting on the other side behind the Leader of the Opposition are the same people who put Mr Latham out in front.

It is absolutely essential that we, under any circumstances, do not move away from our alliance. This government believes in it. This government supports it. And the announcements made last week not only increase the security of our nation but also increase the security of Australian jobs.