Chris Ellison (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Ferguson for a very important question. The men and women of Australia’s defence forces do a fantastic job for this country and they deserve the investment of a budget which will provide $14 billion over the next 10 years. This budget continues the solid investment in the Australian defence forces by the Howard government. This is the seventh budget in a row where the government has met or exceeded the 2000 Defence white paper funding commitment. That demonstrates a clear, ongoing commitment to the defence forces of this country. Indeed, since 1996, when this government was elected, the defence budget has increased by about 47 per cent—that equals around two per cent of GDP.

This increased funding has been targeted in a number of ways. Firstly, our men and women need the technology and the materiel to do the job that they do so well. We also need to target the recruitment and retention of personnel in the Australian defence forces. We have set a target of 57,000 personnel over the coming decade, and to do this we have announced an initiative in this budget of $2.1 billion over the next 10 years. This is phase 2 of what we announced last year, which involved around another $1 billion. We have announced integrated measures which will benefit our defence personnel greatly. Firstly, there is the new home loan assistance package with higher subsidies and greater choice to encourage homeownership and provide higher benefits as members serve for longer periods. That is an initiative of $864 million—one which goes directly to the welfare and the benefit of our defence personnel.

As well as that, we have announced we will apply $71 million to an apprenticeship scheme so that people who join the ADF—young Australians aged 16 and 17—can commence an apprenticeship and then go on to serve in the ADF. We have also announced an investment in the professional development of the defence medical officers and also, importantly, an expansion and enhancement of the Defence Force cadet scheme, giving our young people across Australia the opportunity to enjoy the benefits that come with being a Defence Force cadet. That involves an initiative of around $100 million.

We have announced other initiatives in that $2 billion-plus package to enhance the position of our ADF and to make it more attractive for people to join and serve in Australia’s defence forces. This is increasingly challenging in the current economic environment that we live in, where you have competitive labour markets in the private sector who offer great incentives. But we also announced in this budget the acquisition of 24 Block II Super Hornet multirole aircraft at a cost of $6.6 billion over 13 years. That is an essential part of Australia’s air defence. We also announced funding of about $380 million to increase Australia’s defence intelligence and security capabilities. That is so vital in protecting Australia’s security and national interests in the war against terrorism. This is an outstanding budget for the Australian defence forces and demonstrates yet again the Howard government’s clear commitment to giving our men and women in Australia’s defence forces the investment they need to carry on doing such a great job.