David Shoebridge (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The 2024 Defence workplace experience survey results were squeezed out of Defence in Senate estimates and they are pretty ugly reading for Defence leadership. Support for senior leadership in the Army has now tanked at just 29 per cent positive, support for the senior leadership in the Navy has sunk to just 32 per cent positive ratings and support for senior leadership in the Air Force has plummeted to just 37 per cent, all four falling year after year after year after year. So for four years now Defence leadership has been ranked worse and worse and worse by the people actually in those jobs, in uniform, trying to keep this country safe. And what is Defence's answer? They want more money, more medals, more gold braid, more promotions, more tanks they can't staff, more boats they cannot build. When will Defence leadership be held accountable? When will the war parties in this place finally hold the failing Defence leadership to account?

A week from now this chamber will have the chance to vote to legalise cannabis for the whole of this country and for the enormous benefits that will produce for this country such as: 60,000 people a year out of the criminal justice system; billions and billions of dollars a year taken from organised crime and put into legitimate business, where people can be paid a fair wage; and almost zero—zero—change in the amount of cannabis being consumed in the country. What will it mean for ordinary people? It will mean, on a Friday afternoon after a full-on hard week of work, they will not just have some beer barn supported by the alcohol lobby that is funding the Labor and coalition parties; they will have other choices, adult choices about where to relax and where to spend their recreational time. We have a week to do this. Let's legalise cannabis and take this country forward.