Julian Simmonds (Ryan, Liberal National 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 Morrison government is investing in our northern Australian defence facilities and, importantly, how we are working to strengthen our vital alliance with the US?

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question and for his great interest in the Australian Defence Force and support of the personnel at the Gallipoli Barracks. We were there only a week or two ago. We engaged with the troops on the ground and we were welcomed. It was a great opportunity to listen to those members of the ADF who make a great sacrifice for our country. Their families give up a lot of time when their mums or dads are deployed, and we want to make sure that they have the best possible conditions to deploy to.

The government has made an announcement in this budget that we will have three-quarters of a billion dollars spent in the Northern Territory to upgrade air training facilities. We know that, at the moment, we have about 15,000 Australian defence personnel in the region. We know that, as of next month, we will start to have about 2,200 US marines training up in Darwin as part of that force's rotation, which is a doubling of the number that we had last year. They will work alongside Australian defence personnel. This investment builds on the money that we're putting into facilities right across the north of Australia. We have a total of $8 billion being invested into facilities in the Northern Territory over the next decade. We have a further $1.1 billion that we'll spend in Central Queensland and northern Queensland and approximately $800 million in northern Western Australia.

When we talk tonight about making sure that the budget will secure Australia's recovery and create a stronger economy, we will also talk about how we intend to keep Australia safe. In tonight's budget we will further detail our commitment to the Australian Defence Force and our continued expenditure not only on personnel but on the infrastructure that's required to support them. We will make sure that we offer Australia every defence possible in a very uncertain period of history. To make sure that we can work alongside the United States, our most important alliance partner, nobody kids themselves in terms of what we need to do as a country to keep us safe and to make sure that we can keep our regional partners safe. Along with our Five Eyes partners, we provide stability in our region.

The fact that we can manage the economy well and the fact that we have responded to COVID in a way that most other countries around the world have not been able to do has meant that we can invest additional money into the Australian Defence Force, and we will—not just tonight but over the decades ahead. The Australian Defence Force personnel know that, when we say we are back to business and we have their backs, this government believes it, we will act on it and we will make sure that we continue to invest in the best defence force in the world.