John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

As the Department of Defence indicated at Senate estimates on, I think, 3 June, the estimated overall cost of buying the capabilities that were outlined in the white paper will be between $245 billion and $275 billion out to the year 2030. Officials at the table indicated at that time that the new funding model that the government has decided on will cover the cost of those acquisitions. The government, as Senator Johnston would know, has also made a commitment to grow the Defence budget in real terms by three per cent on average until 2017-18— (Time expired)