Maria Kovacic (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Defence Amendment (Safeguarding Australia's Military Secrets) Bill 2024 and the Defence Trade Controls Amendment Bill 2024. These bills are a significant and important step in ensuring that Australia and the ADF are ready for the next step of the AUKUS security partnership between Australia, the US and the UK.

AUKUS is arguably the most significant step taken in the defence of Australia in the postwar era. It was the coalition government that founded AUKUS in 2021 with our two most important security partners. AUKUS will provide the foundation for Australia's underwater military capability well into the 21st century as well as support a multitude of other facets of our military capability.

As announced last year, AUKUS will see the deployment of US Navy and Royal Navy nuclear powered attack submarines to HMAS Stirling in Western Australia. Early next decade, the Royal Australian Navy will acquire Virginia class attack submarines from the US, representing, as noted, the most significant advancement in Australia's military capability in the postwar era. In the 2040s, Australia will build and acquire AUKUS SSN in conjunction with the UK. Built in Adelaide, these will be the first Australian-built nuclear powered submarines in history.

Developed under a coalition government and continuing today under a Labor government, AUKUS represents the work of this chamber, and the other place, at its very best: bipartisan governance in Australia's best interests. This monumental leap in our defence capability has its detractors, but it is essential that this capability is achieved, not only for the defence of our country but also for the defence of the liberal democratic free world and the rules based international order. There are those who take a different approach: that Australia should throw away its principles in favour of serving authoritarian regimes. I do not subscribe to that philosophy. Australia must stand and continue to stand with our liberal democratic friends around the world, especially those under occupation or threat of occupation. Australia, alongside other liberal democracies, has a responsibility to protect those who cannot protect themselves. The rules based international order has delivered remarkable levels of relative peace throughout the world, particularly in states that share its ideals.

In October of last year, I had the opportunity and the privilege to spend a few days at RAAF Base Amberley in Queensland. Two things became very clear to me very quickly. The first was the extraordinary commitment, service and sacrifices of our defence personnel in keeping us safe. What they do to keep us safe puts them at risk, and we must never forget that. The second was that we need greater investment in our defence personnel and in our defence systems. We cannot protect our nations and our freedoms without that investment. The situations playing out globally, including in Ukraine, are a clear signal of the risks that we could face here in the Indo-Pacific. We face legitimate and serious geopolitical risks, and we must be prepared for the fact that the peace we have enjoyed for decades has only been the product of a strong liberal democratic order and that it cannot be taken for granted. AUKUS will only enhance our position in this respect. AUKUS will enable us to have one of the most credible defences available to conventional forces.

As the founders of AUKUS, the coalition will support the implementation of AUKUS by supporting the bills on a bipartisan basis. The SAMS bill has been considered and is supported by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, and an advisory report has been produced, including recommendations. The DTCA Bill has been considered, albeit on an expedited basis, by the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee. On the basis of key concessions and additional recommendations secured by the coalition, the coalition is supportive of the final report and recommendations, which were tabled last week. Support for expedited passage of DTCA and SAMS has also been provided based on a statutory review time frame of three years from commencement to evaluate the functioning of the updated defence export legislation framework and a commitment from the Deputy Prime Minister to establish a new statutory parliamentary joint committee on defence, JCD, as soon as possible. The coalition has indicated its expectation that this be completed by the winter break, and the DPM's office has, on several occasions, stated that the draft JCD legislation will be available within weeks.

The opposition can be satisfied both with the level of consultation with the defence industry and other stakeholders on the bills to date and with government commitments to regulatory co-design and consultation going forward, including through the establishment of the new JCD and the legislative review period. The opposition is informed that the government will propose a range of amendments to the DTCA Bill to address academic and defence industry concerns raised during the Senate committee inquiry and otherwise in the course of the consultation on the provisions. Representatives from academic and defence industry working groups are aware of the expedited time frames for passing the bills and recognise the importance of the parliament not letting Australia fall behind in implementing AUKUS.

Importantly, the government's commitment to establishing the new JCD provides industry and academic stakeholders with confidence that there will be a new specialised forum for consulting with parliament, government and Defence. JCD will be governed like the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, composed of the two major parties of government and bound by the secrecy and other provisions that facilitate improved scrutiny and oversight of Defence and the government, including over implementation of the bills going forward. The new joint statutory committee on defence will bring rigorous parliamentary oversight to Australia's defence agencies and the Australian Defence Force and facilitate confidential discussions and briefings. The government's commitment to granting the opposition's conditions of establishing the JCD and accommodating the opposition's recommendations for DTCA regulatory co-design and consultation should mitigate any concerns amongst stakeholders about the expedited passage of the bills.