Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) | Hansard source

Australia is at a critical moment in its history. After enjoying almost 70 years of relative peace, prosperity and strategic order, we are now entering a period of tension, hardship and strategic disorder. Authoritarian powers are on the move. China and Russia deepened their strategic cooperation in February 2022 with their 'no limits' partnership. Since that time, Russia has drawn the sword against Ukraine, invading sovereign territory and killing thousands of people. China has flexed its muscles in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, with multiple provocations. Terrorism is back. Hamas attacked and murdered more than a thousand Israelis on 7 October, and Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, out of Yemen, are firing missiles at drones and international shipping in the Red Sea, forcing up the cost of freight and compromising around12 per cent of global trade.

Despite all our national advantages in geography and resources, the liberty of distance and abundance, we are a country that is dependent upon the security of the seas for our importation of goods, especially liquid fuels, and for our exports that underwrite our prosperity. We are a trading nation and vulnerable to this emerging strategic disorder. It would not take much to severely damage our prosperity, either through regional conflict or an adversary conducting supply chain warfare against our country. Now, more than ever, is the time to act to secure our future, which is why the Albanese government's weakness in defence is so inexcusable.

The times demand strong leadership. Instead, we get weak leadership from the Prime Minister and his part-time defence minister. There is much to do, and this Labor government is failing to do it. Since April last year, we've known that the Albanese government is not serious about defence. The Defence Strategic Review in April last year revealed that there is no new money for defence. In fact, with inflation, the budget has gone backwards in real terms. This means they are making cuts to the ADF across the board—to Army, Navy and Air Force. Army has had its infantry fighting vehicles order slashed from 450 to 129. It's shrinking from three fighting brigades to one. Under the Albanese government, the Army is weaker and our ability to prevail in land combat is diminished. That's the consequence of weak leadership.

Our budget with the AUKUS commitment must grow; otherwise, we sacrifice other important capabilities and our readiness to fight. Sustainment budgets will be cannibalised, and the historical record reflects this, as we saw when we operated two aircraft carriers in the Royal Australian Navy.

This is fundamentally a question of leadership for the defence minister. We know that he lost at the ERC last year to Senator Penny Wong, the Minister for Foreign Affairs. He needs to secure more money for the defence budget. The speed of the boss is the speed of the team, and the Minister for Defence agreed with this sentiment in October 2022, when he said that he takes responsibility for defence—that the buck stops with him. But under this minister we see a host of failings, and estimates has revealed that today—a deferral of tough decisions.

It was five months ago that the minister received the surface fleet review, and we are still waiting for his decision on it. It's causing massive uncertainty for defence industry and in South Australia.

We are yet to see a defence strategy, the most important thing you must have in defending the nation. You must know what the threat is and you must have a plan to defeat it. It shapes everything, particularly in the budget, and in a time of scarcity we need a strategy first and foremost. We won't see this until midyear at the earliest, only after the big decisions are taken on capabilities, platforms and equipment.

The paperwork piling up on the minister's desk has resulted in a 37-year delay on our most significant defence programs. The department is dysfunctional, with senior officials airing their grievances against the minister through the Australian Financial Review.

The Labor government haven't deployed a naval vessel to the Red Sea, a weak decision when you consider the US, the UK, France, Italy and other nations are stepping up. The Albanese government won't send otherwise serviceable Taipan helicopters to Ukraine even after our friends have asked for them, preferring to bury them along with our reputation as a tough-minded people who look after our mates. This government is weak in defence, and that has caused a recruiting and retention crisis. We are not getting enough people joining and we are losing too many. I am worried for Australia, as are all those on this side of the House. The Minister for Defence is on notice: show some strength, secure money for the ADF, make the hard decisions. If you can't by the May budget, resign and make way for someone who can. We can't afford to be weak any longer.

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