Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this important motion from the member for Berowra regarding the Royal New South Wales Lancers from Parramatta. This motion notes that many Defence Force bands similar to the Lancers make a significant contribution to the local community, but their very existence is presently under threat due to the decision by this Labor government to cut funding. The Reserves are an integral component of Australia's Defence Force. Along with my coalition colleagues, including the member for Brisbane, I have long supported the unique skills that reservists bring to defence and I have always supported the important work they carry out in achieving the ADF's objectives both at home and abroad.

Unfortunately, as a result of Labor's poor and reckless financial management of the country's budget, the government has decided to cut funding to the Department of Defence and, as the member for Berowra said, to the so-called low-hanging fruit of that department. An important consequence for the community of Labor's Strategic Reform Program, which is supposed to save $20 billion over 10 years, is that such low-hanging fruit consists of things like paying for training and development needs of sectors of the Defence Force which are not considered high priority. At the very time that Australia has a significant number of troops overseas—clearly our highest priority—it does not make sense to be cutting funding in this way. A lot of sensible and positive programs that are not related to direct combat will be cut but the coalition does not believe that their funding should be cut—not in the current context and not ever. Yet this Labor government has decided that the defence department does not matter to the extent that their budget, as a percentage of GDP, is less than 1.5 per cent—the lowest it has been since 1938.

The May budget saw $5.5 billion of cuts to the Defence portfolio. I ask the question: was there a specific strategic justification for these cuts? The answer is simple: of course not. Has the world become safer or changed so much in the last couple of years that a capable Defence Force is deemed completely unnecessary? Of course not. At the same time, have conditions changed to the extent that the service of reservists in Army bands is no longer required? Of course not. The Labor government has abandoned its commitment to the reserves to the extent that specific funding allocated to Australian Defence Force reservists is so insufficient that some reserve units are down to as low as 20 days training per annum. This is despite numerous parliamentary studies of the Reserves agreeing that for an effective reserve service there must be a minimum of approximately 30 training days per year.

There are two main streams of Defence Force bands in the Brisbane area with which reservists assist. They are the regular Australian Army Band Brisbane and the Band of the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment which formed 58 years ago. The band of the RAR recently performed at the Ashgrove dawn service on Anzac Day this year for the 42nd year in a row. Unfortunately it may be the case that they will not be able to perform for the 43rd year in a row. It might the case that, as the member for Berowra highlighted, there will be no buglers available to provide their services for the funeral of a veteran. At passing-out parades for diggers who have been deployed overseas to risk their lives for this country there will not be a band to welcome them home or to see them off.

A worrying development occurred on 24 August 2011 when it was announced that, for those in regimental bands, ongoing support for replacement and repair of instruments and financial support for things like ceremonial uniforms will be withdrawn. This is a threat to the Defence Force and the community. It is not trivial that these bands serve as an entertainment outlet for serving Australians both here and on overseas deployment; that they perform at Defence and government occasions; that they support the Defence Force's public and community relations events; or that they contribute to educational programs at schools and other charity organisations. I assure the Australian people that a re-elected coalition government will urgently seek to address the Gillard government's failure to properly support the ADF Reserves. I call on all members to support this motion.

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