Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Gilmore for her question. I know that she, like many members on this side of the House, takes a sovereign defence capability seriously. Obviously, in the last 12 months, this government, the Turnbull government, has made the decisions necessary to undo the wrongs that were committed by the Labor Party in the six years that they were in government. This is the government that decided to build 12 submarines, nine future frigates, 12 offshore patrol vessels and 21 Pacific patrol vessels—54 vessels over the next few decades, creating not just jobs but also sovereign defence capability, which is vitally important to Australia if it wants to be a good ally and partner to our allies and partners around the world and also to have the capability where we can enforce the support that we have for the international rules-based order and we can defend our own national interests.

When Labor was in power, spending on defence dropped to the lowest levels since the appeasement period, since 1938: 1½ per cent.

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