Jason Wood (La Trobe, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is for the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Minister for Defence Materiel. Will the minister advise the House how the government's defence white paper will invest in innovative industries and create jobs for Australians?

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to thank the member for La Trobe for his questions and I would like to congratulate him on his appointment this morning to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. I am sure he will do an absolutely outstanding job on that committee.

Prime Minister, it is an absolute honour to stand here today to answer my first question as the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and for Defence Materiel, especially on a day when you and the Minister for Defence have launched the defence white paper, a $30 billion investment in our nation's security. It also includes a $1.6 billion investment in Australian industry, to support Australian industry. And that is very, very important because that will lead to jobs in Australia.

I want to give an example of this. It is a company called Marand, which builds trailers that jet engines sit on. This is sophisticated technology, it is innovative technology and it is built in Melbourne. And because of the investment we are seeing in the white paper—that future investment—this company, which already employs 250 people, is confident that it will be employing more people. That is real people earning real income as a result of the government's investment. And we are going to see more of that, because what this white paper does is provide investment certainty for Australian defence companies, so they can get on and plan. They can plan the research and development. They can plan commercialisation. That means we will get future job growth, and it will be for Australians. And they will help us keep our nation secure, and, as we know, keeping our nation secure is the No. 1 responsibility of government.

What we have done through this defence white paper is not only provide investment certainty for these companies; we have also got a plan, a real plan, which means it will be properly funded. It will not be like the defence white papers of those opposite, which were not worth the paper they were written on. This has real costings. It has independent costings to it. That means that we will deliver it, unlike the others—unlike those who bring unicorns into this place and think this is a joke, we are about delivering for Australians and Australian business. To those opposite, I commend the defence white paper to you.