Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I completely reject the premise of Senator Whish-Wilson's question that the acquisition of the MQ-4C Triton goes to that in any way. What it does go to is ensuring and addressing questions around the safety of Australia and our interests. That is the role of the Australian Defence Force, and it is the role of a government to protect the nation and our interests. In this region, a region in which our area of maritime surveillance covers 10 per cent of the earth's surface, the surveillance task is a very considerable one, and Senator Whish-Wilson is well aware of that. It's considerable in terms of what we do for ourselves and it's considerable in terms of what we do more broadly to add to regional security and stability, and this particular capability will make a very significant contribution to addressing the challenges that we face.