Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

The government believes that the proposed inquiry into the capabilities of Defence's physical science and engineering workforce is poorly timed. The government has only recently released its vision for One Defence, following the First principles review of Defence, and is yet to release the Defence white paper 2015.

A key initiative of One Defence is the development of a strategic workforce plan linked into the government's strategic expectations of the ADF, to be outlined in the white paper. Defence's physical sciences and engineering workforce requirements are therefore yet to be informed by these seminal documents. The government does, however, welcome the opportunity for the Senate to examine the impact of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd Labor government's unrelenting budget cuts on Defence's physical sciences and engineering workforce.

Question agreed to.