Steven Ciobo (Moncrieff, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Hansard source

an investment that we're able to make in Australia's defence posture as a direct consequence of the strong economic stewardship of the Liberal and National government. It's only because we've been able to get the budget back under control that we've been able to invest in building up Australia's defence industry. We are deeply committed to businesses like those found in the member for Brisbane's electorate—businesses like Explosive Protective Equipment, a family-owned business in his electorate that employs 22 hardworking Aussies. All across Australia we've got so many examples of great Australian SMEs. There are some 3,000 or so that employ around 13,000 hardworking Australians in this sector. And, because we've got the budget under control, we can invest this $200 billion.

The second prong of our strategy is to make sure that we provide direct support to boosting the prospects of Australia's SME sector. We are doing that through policy settings that ensure that we have overcome the challenges that were left behind by the Australian Labor Party.

When the member for Brisbane asks about risks, there are substantial risks not only to Australia's economic position from the Australian Labor Party if they are elected at the next election but also to Australia's defence and Australia's defence industry. What we saw when Labor was last in power was six years of inaction. We saw the Australian Labor Party preside over a situation where they did not put in a single order for a new boat while they were in government, and so we saw the peaks and the troughs of a lack of investment in Australia's defence industry. It has taken now the Liberal-National government to build capacity by $200 billion and to put in place the continuous shipbuilding plan, which will create 15,000 jobs and see an investment of $89 billion. Only a strong Australian economy can make that kind of investment, and only the Liberal and National government can, through prudent economic management, make sure that we create opportunities for small business, create employment for Australians and make sure there is a strong, continuous pipeline of new opportunities.

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