Senate debates

Tuesday, 5 December 2023

Questions without Notice

Defence Personnel

2:39 pm

Photo of Penny WongPenny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Okay, that was not intended, actually. Sorry. The overarching proposition is that the military, over time, has had to adapt and modernise to a very different operating environment to the one that you might have been referring to when the ratio was one to 1,800. I am advised that over the last three years Defence has experienced some 13 per cent growth, representing an increase of 13 one-star, 15 two-star and two three-star officers in senior ADF appointments, driven by government outcomes and the need to maintain capability. Growth relating to government directed outcomes includes: support to the COVID-19 response, national bushfire recovery, Queensland floods, overseas operations, the nuclear powered submarines program and the Defence Strategic Review. Other growth has supported the Inspector-General of the ADF Afghanistan inquiry and the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, the enhancement of space, cyber and intelligence functions and the enhancement of operational cooperation and interoperability. The brief I have says that Defence will continue to review all aspects of the ADF to ensure it is able to deliver on government direction and be sustainable and fit for purpose. More broadly, obviously there remains an ongoing challenge and an imperative for recruitment—which the senator is well aware of—which the ADF is seeking to address.

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