Katie Allen (Higgins, 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 Morrison government is working with international partners to keep Australians safe and secure amidst a challenging international environment?

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

I thank the honourable member for her question, for her support of Defence personnel in her electorate and for her committee work here as well. She brings a wealth of experience to this parliament. Everybody on our side of the House is absolutely committed to making sure that we properly invest into the Australian Defence Force. When Labor was in government, they took money away from defence. We've put money back into defence. We've done that because we are not weak on defence and we are providing support to the men and women of the Australian Defence Force to keep us safe—a very important contrast between that side of the House and this side of the House.

One of the very significant ways that we will keep our country safe and keep our population safe into the decades to come is the AUKUS agreement that we've entered into with the United States and the United Kingdom, our two most important partners. Our collaboration spans decades. We've fought alongside each other. We've invested in each other. The agreement we sign today between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia will allow for a formal transfer of the information that is required for us to commence our nuclear propulsion program for our submarines. It is an incredibly important program. We have put ourselves in a position of trust with the US and with the UK. There was a bilateral agreement between the United States and United Kingdom entered into in the 1950s, where the US shared their technology and information with the UK. For the first time ever a third partner has been able to join that collaboration, and that is, of course, our country. There has been a lot of work already that has been undertaken that has allowed a conversation to take place about how we can train up our submariners and our engineers in the program, and we'll have more to say in that regard.

The Nuclear-Powered Submarine Task Force has carried out a lot of work under the guidance of Admiral Jonathan Mead. I really commend him and his team for working in our country's name. And, in an uncertain time in the Indo-Pacific, Australians want certainty for their government, and we are providing certainty to Australians when it comes to national security and our response to the threats in our region today and into the future. People understand; they've seen Labor operating in the past. They understand that Labor is weak on national security. They've demonstrated it day in, day out, year in, year out, and the reality is it doesn't get any weaker than this Leader of the Opposition.