Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to speak on this matter of public importance because it gives me a chance to talk about Bendigo and our proud defence manufacturing history. Before I do that, I want to take a moment just to talk about the Liberal and National parties' policy that they took to the last election. The biggest problem with their proposal to lift defence spending to three per cent of GDP was there was no detail of what they were actually going to spend the money on. That's the equivalent of me saying, 'You know what? I'm going to spend $250 at Coles so I get the free delivery,' and then putting a bunch of things in my trolley that I don't really need. If you set the target without knowing what you're going to spend it on, you might buy things that we don't necessarily need. That is the problem with the coalition's policy: setting a target without any detail of what we actually need.

When they were in the government, they went to the 2022 election and had not locked in any contracts for the Bendigo Thales site. We went to the election in 2022 with those opposite not locking in a single contract for that site. If they had won the 2022 election, the Bendigo Thales site would have closed. That was despite the fact that we had donated Bushmasters, which are built in Bendigo at Thales, to the Ukraine and we had a capacity gap in the Army that they had created by not securing replacement contracts for Bendigo. They would have seen, if they had won the 2022 election, the Bendigo Thales site close, ending an era of defence manufacturing. What our government did, on winning that election, was invest in the site at Bendigo. In three years, we have invested over $3 million in defence manufacturing contracts in Bendigo Thales, building the Bushmasters that our Army need to ensure that they continue to have the capability they need going forward.

Not only have we invested in the Bushmasters and secured hundreds of jobs in Bendigo in defence manufacturing, but Bendigo is now down to two players bidding for the StrikeMaster contract. For those who haven't seen it, I have a model in my office. It is a Bushmaster with missiles on the back of it, which are aimed to support our army. It is cutting-edge capability, based upon what our country needs, based upon what our army needs and based upon what our navy needs.

Those opposite are up here ranting, saying that we have dropped the ball. We have not. We are building and investing in the equipment that our country needs. We are focused on delivering sovereign capability in Australia. Let's be real about that. We are talking about local manufacturing. We're not talking about cutting sweetheart deals with other countries that see equipment built overseas. We want to prioritise local builds.

That's where I want to talk about AUKUS and our commitment. AUKUS is absolutely critical to our sovereign capability. We've heard why we need to go down the path of nuclear powered subs. But what is most critical in AUKUS is the fact that it will create local jobs and secure manufacturing. We will have the sovereign capability of building subs here in Australia. As a Victorian, I have to say I am jealous of the job opportunities AUKUS will create in South Australia and in WA. I have learned firsthand about that opportunity that South Australia and WA will have in terms of jobs, because in the last parliament and in this parliament I chair the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties. AUKUS came to us in the last parliament and will again in this parliament. It's where we can actually look at the opportunities that exist under that agreement. It is generational change; it is jobs for a generation—those 'jobs for life' that we have quite often talked about losing in manufacturing. AUKUS recreates them in this country.

As for the program—we have seen this—we are on track and delivering under the milestones that we have set. We are dispelling a number of the myths that are out there in relation to AUKUS and ensuring the community of its safety. The jobs alone—the STEM jobs—cannot be understated. Over 30 years, there will be 20,000 jobs. It's a unique opportunity for generations of Australians. These are good, secure jobs. At the same time, it creates the capability that our navy needs to keep us safe. I want to acknowledge the work done not just by our cabinet and our ministers but by local MPs to bring communities along with this agreement.

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