Peter Khalil (Wills, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

Today I rise in support of the Albanese Labor government's Defence Amendment (Parliamentary Joint Committee on Defence) Bill 2025, which will establish a parliamentary joint committee on Defence. This bill ensures that departments entrusted with extraordinary powers are subject to extraordinary accountability. In a time of evolving security threats, it has never been more important to maintain rigorous, independent oversight of our defence community.

The bill delivers on recommendations that were set out and made by the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade to establish a committee which is purely focused on Defence. Recommendations tabled by the JCFADT uncovered existing parliamentary oversight and accountability measures for Defence to be inadequate in balancing accountability, transparency and national security considerations. This bill seeks to amend these issues and give Australians greater trust in parliamentary oversight functions.

By amending the Defence Act, this bill seeks to create a committee which will oversee the Australian Defence Force, the Department of Defence, the Department of Veterans' Affairs, and key Defence portfolio agencies, including the Australian Submarine Agency, Defence Housing Australia and the Australian War Memorial.

In terms of functions, the committee will be able to

The PJCD will be able to receive and consider classified information in carrying out its oversight functions. This will ensure it has the information needed to conduct effective scrutiny of Defence and its portfolio agencies, thereby strengthening government decision-making on defence and strategic policy.

Importantly, the bill establishes appropriate safeguards that balance the government's commitment to greater public accountability and transparency for Defence, and the necessary protection of information provided to the PJCD to ensure Australia's national security and that of our international partners is protected.

The PJCD can receive referrals on matters from ministers and either house of parliament and may also undertake its own-initiative inquiries relevant to its oversight functions.

In recognition of the significance of establishing a royal commission, the PJCD will be responsible for monitoring and reviewing, on an ongoing basis, the Australian government's response to the findings of any royal commission inquiries relating to Defence.

To ensure the independent regulators in the Defence portfolio are able to fulfil their statutory functions, the PJCD will also consider the operations, resources, independence and performance of the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force and the Australian Naval Nuclear Power Safety Regulator.

The functions of the new committee will not extend to matters that fall within the jurisdiction of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. This includes oversight. It will remain the responsibility of the PJCIS to have oversight of the Australian Signals Directorate, the Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation and the Defence Intelligence Organisation, which will continue to report to the PJCIS.

It will supersede, however, and enhance the Defence related functions currently undertaken by the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade. That's the subcommittee that exists in that larger committee.

The existing arrangements for Defence oversight by the Senate Standing Committees on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, including the examination of legislation and of the Defence budget through the Senate estimates process, will remain unchanged.

Similarly, the establishment of the PJCD does not prohibit other committees, such as the statutory Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit, from examining Defence matters as part of its functions.

The new committee will complement these existing arrangements by providing additional oversight of Defence matters that require consideration in a classified setting.

In terms of the constitution of the committee, as with the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, the Prime Minister, in consultation with the Leader of the Opposition, will appoint up to 13 members to the new committee.

This includes no more than seven government members and six non-government members from both houses of parliament.

The arrangements for information handling are modelled on those that apply to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.

Committee proceedings will be conducted in a private and appropriately secure setting, unless the minister has authorised public hearings, with the exception of the PJCD's consideration of the annual reports of Defence agencies.

The new committee will be able to request and receive classified information and briefings in order to perform its functions. For certain categories of protected information—for example, specific information about highly sensitive military capabilities, tactics, techniques or procedures—the minister would need to authorise the production of the information to the committee.

The minister would also need to authorise any subsequent disclosure by the PJCD of that information, including in reports to the parliament.

If necessary, to prevent a witness from disclosing operationally sensitive or other protected information, the minister can issue a certificate to prevent the provision of such evidence or documents.

Given the safeguards in place to support the provision of information to the PJCD, these powers are not intended for routine use. Rather, they are reserved for rare circumstances where disclosure of highly sensitive information could cause significant harm.

The bill establishes a range of criminal offences to deter members of the PJCD, their staff, committee staff, and any other individuals who receive protected information in connection with the performance of the committee's functions from disclosing or publishing information without specific authorisation from the relevant minister.

It also includes offences designed to protect witnesses who are requested to provide evidence or documents to the PJCD.

These offences and penalties in the bill are reasonable, necessary, and proportionate, ensuring the PJCD can access the information required to exercise effective oversight of the Defence portfolio, while maintaining the confidentiality and security of that information.

The strong legal safeguards in place are designed to uphold the integrity of the PJCD's work and ensure that all participants are subject to clear obligations and serious consequences for any breach.

Australians know that the Albanese Labor government is delivering when it comes to our national security and defence.

That's why we have made the biggest peacetime increase in defence spending in Australia's history, providing what is now an additional $70 billion for defence capability.

And, every time we get up and make another announcement, that number only grows. We are constantly looking at what our needs are based on the strategic landscape we face and how we may resource these needs effectively.

In one term, we have announced $12 billion toward Henderson to deliver continuous naval shipbuilding in Western Australia and make AUKUS a reality.

That's going to support 10,000 direct jobs over the next two decades as well as provide opportunities for businesses across the state.

We're investing $4.5 billion for key defence upgrades, including $2 billion for air base upgrades across the Northern Territory, Queensland and Cocos Islands; $1 billion to upgrade land and joint estate capabilities; and $750 million for critical infrastructure upgrades and facilities works at RAAF Base Townsville.

I was just up there recently as we welcomed the new Apache helicopters and the infrastructure that we're building to make that a success.

There is $600 million for the maritime bases, including HMAS Coonawarraand HMAS Cairns, and $200 million to fast-track what are existing programs.

We're also investing in a new era for defence capabilities, which includes the introduction of the Australian Army's new Apache helicopters, a sovereign autonomous undersea capabilities through the Ghost Shark program and the delivery of a larger and more lethal surface combatant fleet with the selection of the upgraded Japanese Mogami class frigates.

Our government, the Albanese government, will continue to increase defence spending to record levels to deliver the capabilities that Australia needs.

These investments are part of the government's commitment to building our sovereign defence industry and supporting a future made in Australia.

That's why I'm standing here today in support of this bill—because we will always follow through with our commitments.

From my experiences during my time as Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security—I have colleagues here who were on that committee—we understand the importance of parliamentary oversight.

Even as members of the executive, it is important that the parliament and parliamentarians have the ability to do the oversight, conduct the inquiries and do the work necessary to ensure we have transparency and accountability.

The PJCIS provides an important forum for vigorous debate, analysis and engagement, with topics on critical national security issues which can be considered.

I'm very cognisant of the important role the intelligence and security committee has played in doing the necessary work in an atmosphere that is conducive to the national interest rather than partisan political pointscoring.

The intelligence and security committee provides a platform for MPs across Australia to make informed recommendations on classified issues without being a member of the executive government.

Similarly, the new defence committee will allow MPs to express their views on these issues integral to the national security of our country.

The ability to platform these views of our citizens on critical issues is the cornerstone of our democratic society, and, the better informed our parliamentarians are on defence, the better it is for the public debate.

The PJCD that we seek to create not only replicates the integral core principles of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security but is world's best practice for parliamentary oversight and accountability on defence.

In conclusion, our government is acting on the longstanding recommendations of the JFADT to establish a defence committee. Our government's primary commitment is to keeping Australians safe.

Our strategic environment becomes inevitably more volatile and complex—we know that—and Australia needs enduring infrastructure ingrained within our parliament to ensure all of our departments and agencies are complying with the rule of law.

This bill strikes the right balance between safeguarding our national security and upholding the democratic principles that define us.

With this legislation we reinforce the message that strong security must go hand-in-hand with strong oversight, and Labor proudly stands behind that principle today.

I would hope that those opposite seek to support this bill, as they similarly did when it was first introduced in our last term of parliament before it was knocked back. I hope they will provide that support given the non-partisan or bipartisan commitment that we have to our national interests and our national security.

The Leader of the Opposition is quoted as wanting to do things differently this term. I hope that's the case. I hope there is a collaborative, bipartisan approach that they will take into the debate on this bill and that it will translate into support for this important bill—one that is critical to the national security oversight and transparency mechanisms of this parliament, and one that should be above partisan politics and petty pointscoring. Those opposite, I would hope, should take the opportunity to be acting in the best interests of Australia's security, because this bill actually improves both transparency and accountability.

The safeguards we are proposing around the operation of this new committee mirror those of the intelligence security committee. It has had support from the opposition in the past. I want to see that support again today.

I commend this bill to the House.

Debate adjourned.

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