Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Science, Technology and Personnel) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support my colleague the honourable member for Berowra's motion and am happy to speak in support of it. The member for Berowra has given a very good account of the problems facing regimental bands—in this case the Royal New South Wales Lancers based in Parramatta. Whilst the member for Canberra has so eloquently gone through the issues of the Australian Army Band Corps and its history, she had the effrontery—the blatant audacity—to say that this $2 million saving was about fiscal responsibility. She said fiscal responsibility, after this government has just gutted the Defence Force to the tune of $5½ billion. Since 2008, the cuts, deferments and imposition on absorbed costs have resulted in over $20 billion being ripped out of Defence to hollow it out. You come in here, Member for Canberra, and talk about fiscal responsibility for $2 million from 14 regimental bands and you expect me to take you seriously. Well, ma'am, with the good grace that I have and as good a member of parliament that you may well be, I find that comment outrageous in the extreme.

On 24 August last year the Army, in response to the government's dubious strategic reform program, issued a directive to withdraw support from 14 regimental bands. It was an arbitrary decision—another example where the government failed to consult with the senior staff of the military. The policy has resulted in the Army withdrawing all instruments from these regimental bands, in effect passing the cost of instruments, uniforms and the like onto regimental associations. Why? For that fiscal responsibility, Member for Canberra: to save $2 million while your party and government gutted $20 billion. Let's put that in context: $2 million versus your $20 billion gutting. And you speak of fiscal responsibility—a drop in the ocean that is nothing short of outrageous, especially when you spend $30 million advertising your carbon tax and you cannot even say the term 'carbon tax.'

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