Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to the review of the government's response to the Defence annual review. The Turnbull government is committed to ensuring Australia's long-term security and economic prosperity. I welcome the review of the Defence annual report 2013-14 by the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade. I know I am not the only one. We have heard from Senators Macdonald, Back and Fawcett about our government's commitment to the security of our nation and additionally to ensuring that we procure as much as possible from our local market, developing those skills and providing jobs and growth right across our nation as a result of our focus on our defence capability.

I particularly welcome the recommendations, and later in my contribution I will go through those recommendations in more detail. As detailed in the 2016 Defence white paper, the government has a comprehensive, long-term plan to ensure we have more a potent, agile and innovative Australian Defence Force capable of achieving Australia's strategic objectives.

I have just left a briefing from some of the larger international players in our defence industry here in Australia. They are quite buoyant. They are excited about the opportunities provided by the government's Defence white paper and the jobs and growth that it will provide not just in capital cities and not just in South Australia, as welcome as that is, but right across our nation.

In the few minutes available to me, I will go into more detail around our ability and capacity as a nation of federal and state governments working together to build those science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills so that we have a workforce that is able to meet the demand that will be coming, growing and sustained over coming decades as a result of our government's commitment and investment in defence industry. Our commitment is based on the government's detailed assessment of Australia's strategic outlook to 2035. It is the most comprehensive defence white paper ever and it, for the first time, properly aligns strategy, capability and resources to make the Australian Defence Force more capable, agile and potent.

We are acutely aware that Defence must be prepared for a more uncertain operating environment. State and nonstate actors will have access to a range of cheaper, more precise and more capable weapon systems. Sophisticated cyber threats will continue to evolve, and the Australian Defence Force will often operate in congested environments where the adversary is not easily identifiable and contingencies move quickly from tension to conflict. Through the government's white paper, Defence will have highly capable and flexible forces. Our government has increased defence spending by $29.9 billion over the next decade, as we deliver on our commitment to increase spending to two per cent of GDP. Also, we are not just going to be throwing the money out with a lack of accountability and transparency; we are going to track this over time, which is a welcome change.

The 2016 budget delivers on the government's commitment to ensuring our long-term security and economic prosperity. Through the implementation of the first principles review, the Turnbull government is delivering on our 2013 election commitment to ensure that Defence is appropriately structured and organised and has the right business practices in place to support the Australian Defence Force in the 21st century.

It was only last week that I was joined by the Minister for Defence Industry, Minister Pyne, in my home state of Victoria at Victoria Barracks to see the first 10 Hawkei vehicles handed over to the Defence Force. The Hawkei is a responsive vehicle, a high-protection vehicle, that builds on the design perspectives and research from the famous Bushmaster vehicle, which has taken the world by storm. The Bushmaster has protected Australian soldiers in theatres—particularly in the Middle East—but it is exported to other nations and it is an incredibly useful piece of equipment in the defence arsenal.

The Hawkei protected vehicle is produced in Bendigo, in the heart of regional Victoria, and as a result of Thales Australia winning that contract 170 jobs have been able to be retained and maintained locally, in the Bendigo region. This vehicle is Australian-designed—a world class design—and we are hoping not only that we can have our own soldiers using the vehicles in theatres right across the world but also that this vehicle—as it is world class and world leading in the type of technology it employs and in its design—will be a vehicle we can export to other nations. I know Thales is working very, very hard on that.

In terms of sustainment of the vehicle over time, 30 jobs will be created, primarily in Queensland. What is unique about the vehicle is that, while it had to have the high level of protection that you get from the Bushmaster, it had to be very light. You had to be able to lift this vehicle up with a Chinook and cart it wherever you needed it, which provided some challenges in trying to marry that personnel protection aspect, which makes it very heavy, with the light weight so that it can be moved around and give that agility and capability to our defence forces. Defence signed a $1.3 billion contract with Thales Australia last October to produce 1,100 Hawkei vehicles with more than 1,000 companion trailers. It was very, very exciting to be with the minister at Victoria Barracks last week to actually see those vehicles and get to sit in them.

I want to briefly touch on the recommendations from the review. Senator Fawcett went into some detail on the 10 recommendations. The government has agreed to a number of them. Having just now come out of the briefing with the Defence primes about the types of skills we need and the level of engagement they are having with Australia universities, in niche areas, to build collaboration, and hopefully commercialisation, of that research over time, it is very exciting. Recommendation 3—that Defence develops 'more innovative ways to recruit, especially in the science, technology and engineering fields'—goes to the very heart of our government's agenda around ensuring that Australia is ready, capable and excited about an economy based on science. I remember that in his speech at the Prime Minister's science awards last year the Prime Minister said that science was going to be at the very heart of our nation's economy. It is true, and it must be so in the 21st century. So I am very proud of our government for pursuing a range of initiatives in this place to ensure that that becomes a reality.

In terms of recommendation 3, which I just read out, the government agrees around a number of initiatives to better attract people with science, engineering and technical skills into the defence field. I heard it directly from the Prime Minister that we need to be getting into secondary schools. We need to be saying to those young people that defence holds an exciting future for them and they just need to get involved in these subjects. So, recommendation 3 includes more engagement with secondary schools, at the year 10 level, such as visits, placements and work experience; ensuring that the Australian Defence Force gap year is promoted; and the implementation of a Defence university scholarship.

Defence agrees that further attention is required to attract personnel in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields, and to build on these existing programs. The review notes the work that was done. I suggest to senators who are interested in this area to go to page 4 of the government response, where there is quite a detailed outline of the initiatives undertaken and where Defence can actually build greater collaboration. One of the implementation strategies was around attracting young culturally and linguistically diverse women to the APS through high school awareness programs, graduate entry-level programs, and university scholarships.

I am very proud to be part of a government that is investing in defence and in projects that will ensure supply chain jobs. Coming from Victoria, with its automotive industry closures, this is exciting news for our state.