Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

You take your pick. Is it reckless indifference, or is it fairies at the bottom of the garden? It's one or the other from the Australian Greens when it comes to the positions and statements we've just heard from Senator Shoebridge. There is reckless indifference to Australia's national safety and security and to how we keep our country and region stable, secure and with a prosperous future ahead. Or, indeed, there are fairies at the bottom of the garden, not having any knowledge at all.

I assume the former, frankly, because Senator Shoebridge is actually a smart person. He does actually understand what's happening. But, indeed, it is an indifference. It seems to be a belief that there in a parallel universe that we can tread, where the security and defence of our nation isn't something we have to take seriously. Well, it is something we have to take seriously. What was completely absent from Senator Shoebridge's remarks was any acknowledgement of the context that Australia finds itself in. There was no acknowledgement at all of the reality that world military expenditure increased for nine consecutive years in the lead-up to 2023, and it has certainly continued since then. We're up to 11 consecutive years, no doubt, of continuous growth in world military expenditure. Indeed, in 2023, it was a 6.8 per cent increase, seeing the steepest year-on-year rise in more than a decade, and, of course, it's coming off ever-higher bases as that global growth in military expenditure is undertaken.

We wish it were not the case, but, tragically, we face the highest level of global military expenditure in real terms since the end of the Second World War. That is the reality of the circumstance we face. That growth is being driven in our region. East Asia's military expenditure increased by some 6.2 per cent in 2023, reaching on the publicly-accounted-for records—and I'll come to that public accountability—some $411 billion. It was 52 per cent higher in our region in 2023 than it was in 2014.

Where is this coming from in terms of that growth of global military expenditure and East Asian military expenditure? As we and certainly the parties of government know, it's China's military expenditure, which has risen consecutively for more than 30 years. It's the longest unbroken streak recorded by any country, according to independent measurement. Just pause and reflect on that for a minute. There have been 30 consecutive years of China increasing its military expenditure—the longest unbroken streak of any nation, according to independent assessment. As I said before, that's only on the publicly available data. Some of those who undertake assessment have indicated that, from public data in 2022-23, China's public defence budget was around $229 billion. But estimates take that to, potentially, in excess of $700 billion.

The security challenges we face in our region are real, because, sadly, we see China not behave as we would wish a great power to behave but exert its military influence in ways that are counterproductive to the peace and stability of our region. We all wish that were different, and it's important that we convey that message. To secure peace and stability, we need to have effective deterrence in place. That was the lesson out of World War II, where, indeed, lack of deterrence and choice of appeasement tragically led the world into enormous conflict. Deterrence is the way to create the scope for diplomacy to do its job and to create peace and security, which is the objective we all want. Out of World War II the architecture was built to try to ensure that we had not only stronger bases for diplomatic efforts but also shared deterrence umbrellas.

The alliance with the US under the ANZUS Treaty, an important achievement of the Menzies government, has been built upon with AUKUS. AUKUS is about ensuring Australia achieves the defence capabilities, as well as the defence industrial capabilities, we need for the future. They are two pillars where we share an interest with the US and the UK. No amount of demeaning the United States or our relationship with them by Senator Shoebridge or the Greens will deter us from the fact that together we are stronger and together we can build those capabilities for both our defence forces and our defence industry and create the type of deterrence that can give us room for diplomacy to secure peace for the future.