Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) | Hansard source

I'm very pleased that I'm joined in the chamber by no less than the Minister for Veterans' Affairs—I thank him for the work that he is doing on behalf of our veterans—and also the shadow defence minister. I thank him also for the work he's doing in the defence space and I thank him for his service with the SAS, because he kept our nation safe. He, like others, were sent to conflicts to do what they were asked by the parliament and by the people, and it's a brave undertaking. The fact that he is now continuing to serve our nation and our people in this important role is tremendous, and I do wish him all the very best when he is, one day, the defence minister, because I think we'd be very well served if he were in that portfolio position in the not-too-distant future.

This Defence Amendment (Parliamentary Joint Committee on Defence) Bill 2024 is an important bill. It establishes the new Parliamentary Joint Committee on Defence through amendments to the Defence Act, which dates back to 1903. Indeed, my hometown of Wagga Wagga is the only inland regional centre with all three arms of defence. Every Army recruit does their soldiering training in Kapooka at Blamey Barracks, home of the soldier, and they do that basic training at 1st Recruit Training Battalion. We have an Air Force base at Forest Hill, RAAF Base Wagga, 'where air power begins', as it says on the hangar. If you spend any time in the Royal Australian Air Force, you will probably end up at Forest Hill, Wagga Wagga. With those brave Air Force men and women at Forest Hill, we also have a Navy base there, where anywhere up to 80 officers serve. Who would have thought? I know the Murrumbidgee is a big river, as that's the Wiradjuri meaning of the name, and it has deep water, but we're very proud to have a Navy base such a long way from the nearest drop of sea water.

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