Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm really pleased to have the opportunity to speak on this matter of public importance. From the outset I want to thank Senator Lambie for raising this matter of public importance and acknowledge her genuine interest, her prior service and her ongoing commitment to these issues, no matter who is in government, and also for being a member of the Senate defence committee. It has been something that I have seen ongoing throughout the time that Senator Lambie has been a senator here; she will raise these issues no matter who is in government.

I am standing here today to talk about the government's commitment to deal with this issue. It is genuine and it does come from a place of recognising that, for many years, we did not have the commitment that was necessary or the strategies that were required to develop recruitment and retention in the ADF. The Albanese government is taking urgent action to address this issue because we want to ensure that Defence has the workforce to protect Australians in an increasingly challenging strategic environment.

While in government, the coalition oversaw a personnel crisis in the ADF. They knew about declining recruitment and retention and did nothing to solve the problem. The Deputy Prime Minister has been very clear that we inherited a recruitment and retention crisis, but we have begun to turn the situation around in a short 18 months. Under our government, separation rates are coming down from their peaks and recruitment is beginning to improve. Of course, we recognise that there is an awful lot of work to do, and I speak to this motion today not as someone who has served but as someone who is in admiration of any of those who do serve our country in our Defence Force. I speak to this motion as someone who lives in a part of Queensland, a part of our country, that is home to many people in the Defence Force, particularly a large army barracks in Townsville and our most northern Naval base, in Cairns: HMAS Cairns. We recognise that the Defence Force is part of our community there, and what happens in those bases and what happens in the Defence community matters to our communities. That's why this is such an important issue.

The recruitment and retention crisis that we face in the ADF is a direct result of the chaos and dysfunction that Defence was under during the former government. After almost a decade of that government, the ADF grew by just 2,000 personnel. That's it. The ADF permanent workforce grew from 56,159 as at 30 June 2013 to 58,206 as at 30 June 2022. This is a net increase of just 200 per annum in the ADF permanent workforce under the previous government. By the end of the time, only 75 per cent of recruitment targets had been achieved.

So the Albanese government is taking action to address this crisis. There's no silver bullet for this issue, but we are already starting to see an improvement. The government has announced a new retention bonus for ADF personnel. ADF personnel will receive a $50,000 retention bonus towards the end of their initial period of service if they commit to remain in the ADF for a further three years. This will be an initial two-year pilot before being extended based on its results.

On 25 May 2023, the government announced the appointment of the first chief of personnel, Major General Natasha Fox. This delivers on one of the recommendations of the Defence strategic review. We have also announced a review into Defence housing to consider how we can improve housing opportunities for ADF personnel, including ownership, because we know that, particularly in regional areas like Townsville and Cairns, Defence housing, Defence personnel and Defence retention go hand in hand. It was really pleasing to see the Assistant Minister for Defence, Matt Thistlethwaite, in Townsville and Cairns as recently as this week to talk about these very issues.

We are working to build Defence as an attractive and competitive employer, including by implementing a new recruiting services contract to improve and speed up the ADF recruitment process, and getting wages moving to ensure ADF and APS personnel in Defence secure competitive pay conditions. There is more work to be done. We are committed to ensuring Defence has the people it needs to keep Australians safe.

Finally, can I just say this: this week I was on the base at HMAS Cairns. I was invited there as part of the beginning of major infrastructure works in HMAS Cairns. I want to thank Commander Santos for his kind invitation to meet some of the naval recruits who are starting their work there. I'm really pleased to see this base and this Defence Force moving forward. (Time expired)