David Johnston (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Kroger for her question and for her commitment to the men and women of the Australian Defence Force. As an island nation, one of our highest priorities is maritime security. The Royal Australian Navy does an outstanding and professional job in fulfilling that role, but it must have, should have and, under us, will have the right equipment. Under Labor's watch, $16 billion was cut from defence. As a result, 119 projects were delayed, 43 were reduced and eight were cancelled. This is the mess we inherited. We were promised an updated Defence Capability Plan but this never eventuated. Such was the mess in this portfolio that Labor never even bothered to produce a defence policy going into the last election. They simply gave up.

The Abbott government takes defence and security seriously. We have taken the first steps to ensure the Navy is properly equipped. Many of us in this chamber would know that HMAS Success, commissioned in 1986, is old and in urgent need of replacement. Labor did nothing about this. We have taken decisive action. This is an absolutely vital capability providing fuel, aviation fuel, ammunition, and stores and provisions to our frigates as and when they move around our vast EEZ. Construction of these vessels is simply beyond Australian industry. We cannot produce 26,000-tonne ships. Our view, supported by the Chief of Navy, is that we need to urgently move on replacing these ships. The only responsible option is the one we have put on the table—between Navantia and DSME of South Korea. I shall have more to say in a moment about the lost opportunity of the wasted years of the Labor government on this matter. (Time expired)