Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

We had the previous Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, promise a three per cent annual increase in Defence spending. What did they deliver? Sixteen billion dollars worth of cuts. You come in here and you cry these crocodile tears when you were responsible for $16 billion worth of cuts from Defence. You reduced Defence expenditure in this nation to the lowest level since 1938, when Neville Chamberlain stood up and said, 'There will be peace in our time'. That is how you reduced Defence expenditure in this country. In your last budget, you slashed Defence expenditure by 10 per cent.

You come in here and cry these crocodile tears and you march in the streets about a 4.6 per cent cut to the ABC. Where were you people when you were cutting 10 per cent from Defence? Nowhere to be seen. This is the mess we have inherited. This is the mess our Defence minister, Senator Johnston, has inherited. What a debacle. Not only that, we have an obligation to pay the interest on the debt that this mob ran up. Every single month we must pay $1 billion in interest. One billion dollars every single month goes out to pay the interest on the debt this mob created.

This MPI will go for one hour. In that time, because of the debt this mob have run up, we must find as a nation $1.5 million in interest. It is an absolute mess. We are working to clean it up and every minister in this place is doing a good job and has my support. (Time expired)

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