Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Defence. Will the minister inform the House of the Morrison government's commitment to and record in strengthening our national security and keeping Australians safe, and is the minister aware of any alternative approaches?

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

I thank the honourable member for his question, acknowledging his service to our country in uniform. The way in which he represents veterans in his electorate of Herbert in the greater Townsville community is greatly admired by the local residents in Townsville. Our commitment as a government to keeping our nation safe is demonstrated every day through our commitment to the men and women of the Australian Defence Force and the decisions that we've made to invest in them and in their skills, provide support to them and give them the equipment required to keep our country safe, not just today but into the future.

I've watched alternative policies—I'm asked about approaches—and I've watched the Labor Party over many years, particularly in the run-up to the 2007 election when with a straight face the Labor Party went to the Australian public and said that there is no difference between the Labor Party and the coalition when it comes to protecting our borders and in the defence of our nation. I've seen this movie before, and so I'm watching this Labor leader out there trotting out exactly the same lines as Kevin Rudd did in 2007, remembering of course that this Leader of the Opposition was trained by Kevin Rudd—he was the Deputy Prime Minister to Kevin Rudd. Labor were out there before 2007 saying they'd support the Defence Force. They're out there in 2022 saying that they'd support the Defence Force in exactly the same way as the Liberal Party did, if they were to win the next election.

I'll tell you what happened when Labor was in government and this man was the Deputy Prime Minister. They cut Defence spending, they took money away from those men and women who wear the uniform of this country, they took money out of investing in every program across Defence—across ASIO, across the Federal Police, across the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission—and our country was less safe because of this man. Do you know what? No lesson at all has been learned because he is repeating exactly the same mistake now. If you're worried about where China is and you're worried about where Russia is, if you're worried about the Ukraine, if you are worried about the geopolitical circumstances in this world and if you're worried about the uncertainty in the Indo-Pacific, you wouldn't vote for Labor at the next election.