Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The member for Braddon, may I say, from Tasmania. Can I say that he should not be laughing at what is a very serious point, which is actually this government's undermining of defence.

I want to finish here, because we are talking about a bill which will enhance Australia's strategic depth and ensure that we can continue to attract the best and brightest from overseas. That is what this bill is about. I commend this bill, but I acknowledge that it is in the context of following the initiative of the member for Fadden and it is in the context of this government ripping billions of dollars out of a crucial defence budget at a time when our region is unstable and when we are seeing heightened tensions. I do support this bill. I think that giving lateral recruits fast access to citizenship for their families, for their spouses, for their dependents and for their children over the age of 16 is a very positive initiative.

With 300-plus lateral recruits coming to this country every year, absolutely critical positions, as I outlined, in aviation, in the nursing corps, in engineers, in the intelligence corps, in ordinance, in military police, in signals, in artillery and in a lot more of these critical areas, enhancing these lateral recruits' and their families' ability to access citizenship is a positive development. But I say to this government, 'Don't play the politics of defence', because in this climate our Australian Defence Force deserve all the moral and financial support that this parliament can muster. I pay tribute to the legacy of the Howard government in defence and to the efforts of my colleague the member for Fadden in taking the initiative on this bill.

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