Trent Zimmerman (North Sydney, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Defence. Will the minister update the House on how the government is ensuring Australia's national security by increasing defence spending to two per cent of gross domestic product? What are the risks and what is at stake for Australia's national security if this program isn't delivered in full?

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

I thank the member for North Sydney for his question. I believe today might be his 50th birthday, so congratulations to the member for North Sydney.

It is critically important that we fund the government's build-up of our military capability in full and into the future. Several years ago we made the decision that we would fund a build-up of our military capability, the largest in our peacetime history, costing, from this year, $200 billion over the next 10 years and taking the spending on defence to two per cent of gross domestic product by 2020, a year earlier than we had initially promised. That's why we put in place the structure to give people certainty, whether they be foreign governments, state and territory governments, the defence industry, or the Australian government through the ADF and the Department of Defence.

We set in place the structure through a white paper, through the integrated investment plan, through the Naval Shipbuilding Plan, through the Defence Export Strategy and through the Defence Industrial Capability Plan so that everyone knows how we are building up our military by $200 billion over the next 10 years. It gives us the security we need to be a good ally to the United States, to have the capability to influence our region and to be the regional security power in terms of, for example, submarines—to have regionally superior submarines. We decided to use it as well to drive high-technology jobs, manufacturing jobs, throughout our economy. It is working. It is working very well. But we can only do it because we have budgetary management under control—

Dr Mike Kelly interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Eden-Monaro is now warned.

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

under the Treasurer, and before him the Prime Minister, because we have a growing economy that gives us the financial capability and heft to invest that $200 billion to reach two per cent of GDP. It was a very, very different story under the previous Labor government. In the previous Labor government, from 2007 to 2013—

Dr Mike Kelly interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Eden-Monaro has been warned.

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

the Labor Party used defence as a piggy bank, to take money from defence and to use it for other priorities in the government. Did you know that spending under Labor on defence dropped to the lowest levels since 1938, the last year of appeasement before the Second World War? It was 1.56 per cent of GDP, in comparison to the two per cent that we will be spending by 2020. But we can do it because we have a growing economy, because we have strong budgetary management and because we have a plan to deliver that military capability and the jobs that it entails.