Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will take this opportunity today to speak of the Royal Australian Artillery and particularly the Army Reserve units of the artillery. This arms corps has a long and proud history stretching back to the First Fleet, to the colonial batteries and into the modern era. Army Reserve artillery units are allocated to each of the Army Reserve brigades. At 4th Brigade in Victoria, the 2/10 Medium Regiment has at Dandenong the 22nd Field Battery and at Geelong the 38th Field Battery. The 5th Brigade in New South Wales has the 23rd Field Regiment in Kogarah. The 8th Brigade in New South Wales has the 28th Field Battery at Dee Why and the 113th Field Battery at Adamstown. The 9th Brigade has the 16th Field Battery in Launceston and the 48th Field Battery in Keswick in South Australia. In Perth at Karrakatta we have the 7th Field Battery as part of the 13th Brigade.

The history and traditions of these reserve artillery units date back to the First World War, and the traditions of these units burn even more brightly with the commitment shown by these reserve soldiers. I take this opportunity to thank the officers, NCOs and other ranks of the Army Reserve units for their efforts and their commitment to our nation. They are an important part of the Army.

In 2005 the Howard government recognised the need for the existing artillery guns to be replaced and, in 2006, gave first pass approval to the Land 17 Project. Currently the Army has three types of guns: the M198, 155mm medium artillery guns, the L119 105mm artillery guns and the old M2A2 105mm guns, which still exist in army reserve units. Clearly artillery is an important part of any form of combat operations and modern equipment must be able to be deployed. Land 17 is about replacing artillery and considering self-propelled or towed artillery. It is also about precision munitions.

In 2005 the then minister spoke of converting all the regular artillery units to medium artillery, being the 155mm howitzers. The likely concept for the reserve units was that the existing M198 guns would be transferred to 28th Battery, 113th Battery, 16th Battery and 48th Battery, with the more modern L119 Hamel guns transferred to 23rd Field Regiment and the 7th Battery in Perth. I understand that the first formal tender for Land 17 was not released until September 2007. I understand that the purchase of the phase 2 self-propelled howitzers may now not proceed at all, leaving phase 1towed 155mm guns as the only capability with 35 M77782 howitzers having been ordered. A decision not to proceed with phase 2 and self-propelled howitzers would seem like an opportunity lost. With phase 2, the two main contenders were the German produced Panzerhaubitze 2000 that was well proven in Afghanistan by the Dutch. Another contender was the K9 Thunder produced in South Korea. These are both self-propelled guns and obviously have certain capabilities that endear themselves to procurers of military equipment. I have certainly seen strong recommendations for the German contender—of course, it is not up to me to make these decisions. What is of most concern to me as a former Army officer and someone who greatly respects the dedication and commitment of the Army Reserve, is the decision that has apparently been made to now take all artillery guns away from the Reserve artillery units and replace them with mortars. I note—and everyone should note—that 81mm mortars are an infantry weapon of the support companies of the infantry battalions. The downgrading of Reserve artillery units is disappointing because it was certainly the intent back in 2005 for the Reserve to maintain their role as genuine artillery and not to take on infantry weapons. I note that Defence Force Recruiting is now advertising for reservist positions of 'light gun'—gunners that use mortars.

We should understand that a medium artillery battery consists of four guns, whereas a 105mm field battery consists of six. The Regular Army currently has six field and two medium batteries. To upgrade all eight batteries to medium howitzers would require 32 artillery pieces. This should then release the L119, the more modern 105mm guns, to flow into the Reserve units that do not already have them. But that is not going to happen. The 81mm mortars are what is going to go to the Reserve units, so I really wonder where the L119s are going to be sent as part of the Land 17 Project.

I reiterate that the great traditions of the units and the dedication of the Army Reserve soldiers are not enhanced by such decisions. There is great concern amongst current and former artillerymen, and it remains my view that to take all artillery out of every Reserve unit is a bad decision. It runs contrary to the great traditions of combat corps of artillery and will have impacts on the recruiting and retention of artillery soldiers in the Reserve in the future. It is becoming obvious that this is just another decision by a government that has no vision for the Reserve forces and it is symptomatic of the lack of direction that afflicts this government across so many portfolio areas.