Jason Falinski (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Defence Industry. Will the minister outline for the House how the government's investment in defence industry will generate thousands of jobs for hardworking Australians, create a stronger economy and ensure our nation's security? How will New South Wales benefit from the largest military build-up in our peacetime?

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am so glad that the member for Grayndler got a question, because I was thinking of giving him one of our dorothy dixers if he did not get one very soon! That would have meant that I would have missed out on a question, which would have been very disappointing. So I am glad that the Leader of the Opposition finally relented and gave one of the member for Rankin's questions to the member for Grayndler. But I digress.

I would like to thank the member for Mackellar for his question. I was not long ago in his electorate where I was marking the millionth part created for the Collins Class submarine by H.I. Fraser, a manufacturer in his electorate. Not long after that I went and visited Rockwell Collins in the member for North Sydney's electorate to witness the production of the 100th optical assembly for the Joint Strike Fighter to provide battlefield awareness for Joint Strike Fighter pilots. They join businesses such as Birdon boats in the member for Lyne's electorate, which recently won a contract to upgrade the Army's 24 bridge construction propulsion boats and importantly recently won a $400 million export contract to provide those same boats to the US Army from his electorate. Also, recently the Prime Minister and I launched Northrop Grumman's $50 million Electronic Sustainment Centre of Excellence at what will be the defence industry precinct that the Minister for Urban Infrastructure is helping to build at the Western Sydney Airport.

All of these projects, whether in Lyne, in North Sydney, in Mackellar or in Western Sydney—and there are many other projects just like them—are using the defence industry budget to drive jobs, to drive investment, to drive high-value jobs in high technology and in advanced manufacturing, helping to make real our largest military build-up in our peacetime history. This of course stands in very stark contrast to what we saw on the Labor side of the House when they were in government and managed to reduce spending on defence to 1.56 per cent of GDP.

But people are entitled to ask why we do this, and the reason is that the capacity for a sovereign capability in defence industry is as much a part of our national security as is the work of our armed forces—our men and women in uniform. They are a pillar in the defence of our nation. And, as the Prime Minister said today in his statement on national security, the safety of Australians at home and abroad is the No. 1 priority of any successful, sensible and serious government, and that is what this government is delivering.