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

We do have a beach. Thank you to the veterans' affairs minister. It was rated the ninth-best beach in Australia not that long ago! The Navy forms a very important part of our tri-military service in Wagga Wagga, capital of the Riverina.

I say all this in the context of this bill because this new Joint Committee on Defence will often look into Defence infrastructure, funding and spending, and it's important that that is one of its key components and core roles. At the moment, for the Riverina Redevelopment Program, there is $1.40878 billion—that's a thousand million dollars—being spent at the two Wagga Wagga defence bases: Kapooka and Forest Hill. I thank the government for continuing to build on the record funding committed by the former coalition government. It's too important not to. RAAF Wagga and Kapooka go back to the Second World War. They play an integral role in the training of our men and women who wear the uniforms of this nation.

At Blamey Barracks, at Kapooka, the approved budget of $846.864 million covers works including new recruit accommodation, a new medical training facility, a new recruit physical training facility, new recruit welfare facilities, a multifunction centre, and new facilities for the Australian Army Band Kapooka, which is so important. The community think they own the band, but the band are there to play the music and the tunes on the regular Friday march-outs. That is their main role, but they become so enmeshed with the community that the community think they own them. There's also a new headquarters building, a new clothing and Q store, a new weapons range, and other upgraded new infrastructure works—electronics, water, sewerage et cetera. That's at Kapooka.

At RAAF Base Wagga, where we were joined on 13 June by the member for Moreton, in his capacity as Chair of the Public Works Committee, and the member for Hinkler, we toured and we listened to the officials and the defence authorities about the upgrades to RAAF Base Wagga. I say this again, in the context of this bill, because it is very relevant. This is the sort of work which will also be undertaken by this new parliamentary joint committee. The approved budget for the works at RAAF Wagga is $561.929 million, which includes new recruit and training accommodation. Let me tell the parliament: if this wasn't going to be funded, there would be every opportunity for a future government to look at RAAF and think, 'Why do we need to continue operating out of Wagga Wagga?' The accommodation was from the 1950s or 1960s—certainly not fit for purpose for the modern era. The funding will also cover a new combined mess; a new gymnasium and pool; a new weapons training simulations system—they're very expensive, those things, but so very necessary; new fire tanks and pump house; new education facilities; and a new retail facility. These are going to be important components to secure not only the future of those two bases but the future of training in a regional setting, and it's vital that that be the case. All training for Defence doesn't need to be in metropolitan areas; indeed, it probably ought not be in metropolitan areas. I know the work that goes on up in Capricornia and elsewhere right across the nation. If Defence does one thing well, it is spreading its training and works right across this broad nation.

This is important legislation. It is also, as the shadow minister for defence has quite correctly pointed out, deeply concerning that there could be some in the House of Representatives, and indeed the parliament, who do not share the same vision for training, for our defence commitments and for our defence spending as those of the major parties do. By that I mean the Greens; let's call it what it is. I have great concerns about the Greens' attitude towards the security of this nation. I think that is shared across the parliament and its aisles. The Greens, rest assured, are not an environmental party. They stopped being an environmental party decades ago. They are about destroying the very fabric that made this country great. They are about societal change which does not enhance this country and does not place us amongst the great nations of the world.

I've been to Camp Baird on a number of occasions, but, on my very first visit 10 or so years ago on a multiparty parliamentary visit, I can remember being told by the Americans how proud they were to serve alongside Australians. They said how proud they were of our commitment and the fact that, when things got a little bit tough in various conflicts, Australia did not cut and run. The Greens wouldn't have had us there in the first place. They wouldn't have had too many people, if any, wearing the uniform. They certainly would not have made sure that our combat equipment was modernised—the latest and greatest. They wouldn't have been party to that either.

See this speech in context