Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister. Deputy Prime Minister, how will the Defence Strategic Review help prepare Australia to effectively respond to the changing regional and global strategic environment and ensure Defence's capability and structure are fit for purpose?

Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

MARLES (—) (): I thank the member for her question and acknowledge her commitment to Australia's defence and also acknowledge the poignancy of asking a question about Australia's strategic posture on the 81st anniversary of the fall of Singapore. Yesterday the government received the Defence strategic review from Sir Angus Houston and Professor Stephen Smith. It is a fundamentally important document. It runs to 157 pages in length. It contains 108 recommendations, many of which will obviously be classified.

More importantly, the Defence strategic review articulates a new strategic posture for our nation. With apologies to those from the past for the crude simplification, over many decades Australia's strategic posture has been centred on the defence of the continent, being a significant actor within our region and being a good global citizen—if you like, three concentric circles. This frame has served us very well over a very long period of time, but, quite obviously, in 2023 this is no longer fit for purpose, because today we live in a globalised networked world where, as a trading island nation, so much of our national income is dependent upon trade, so any potential adversary can do our country enormous damage without ever having to set foot upon our shores. So our national interest lies in having a clear set of international rules of the road, around trade and around freedom of navigation—the global rules based order—along with having the capability to hold any potential adversary at risk much further from our shores. In order to achieve both of these objectives we need a defence force that has the capacity for impactful projection across the full spectrum of proportionate responses.

The theory is important, but what is absolutely critical is that we now build a defence force that has the capacity in its specific platforms and people to be able to achieve this strategic posture. This is exactly what the Defence strategic review examines. Time will tell, but I believe this document will be a blueprint for defence thinking for many decades to come. The government will consider the review over the weeks ahead before we release an unclassified version of the review, along with the government's response to it. Far from being the culmination of a process, this is really the beginning of a new era in strategic thought, which will build a strategic posture for our country, which will protect our national interests, protect our way of life and keep Australians safe.

Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Defence. At 4.01 pm the minister tweeted a photo of himself and the Prime Minister receiving the Defence strategic review. At 9.42 last night, reports emerged in the media outlining recommendations contained in the DSR. Can the minister explain how highly classified information about Australia's national security ended up in the Australian within a matter of hours?

Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question. It is not going to surprise members of this House that there is speculation around the Defence Strategic Review. The only thing that you've read in the newspaper is that speculation. Now, the facts which are on the public record are the facts as I presented them in the answer to the previous question. And it genuinely surprises me that, on a matter as significant as this, the Opposition would be sharing in the speculation of the press.