John Williams (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Like many things, they made announcements. But, of course, actions speak louder than words, and they never did a thing as far as improving our Defence Force to keep our nation safe and secure.

The hysteria of the Labor Party on this issue must end. They must put national security ahead of supporting their union mates. The government's approach to acquire the submarines follows exactly the same process as that in place for all major defence projects since the 2003 Kinnaird reforms to defence procurement. This process has been used by previous governments, and was the same process that was going to be used by Labor if they ever got around to making any decisions.

We will follow due process. There will be a thorough, two-pass cabinet process and we will receive advice from our defence chiefs and procurement experts to ensure we get the very best capability at the best value for taxpayer dollars.

It is amazing that under Labor, $16 billion was cut from defence—$16 billion: a fact. The share of GDP spent on defence had fallen to 1.56 per cent, its lowest level since 1938. That is absolutely disgusting! How could the previous Labor government treat our Defence Force with such disdain; to cut, cut and cut and now leave us in the situation of the lowest percentage of GDP since 1938? This was just prior to World War II, of course! That is what our predecessors did to our Defence Force.