Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question. Last Wednesday, the Prime Minister and the Premier of Western Australia were at HMAS Stirling in Rockingham, which right now is hosting the USS Vermont, a US Navy Virginia class submarine which is undergoing the most extensive maintenance on an American nuclear powered submarine outside of America ever. This work is being undertaken by 120 Australian workers, and that too is unique in terms of non-Americans working on a US submarine.

But, well before the Vermont reached Australia, it already had a distinctly Australian character because, of the 130-odd crew, 11 submariners and two officers—10 per cent of the crew—are Australians enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy. This is a powerful example, but it's just one example of the way in which, today, AUKUS is happening. That's what serious defence policy looks like.

It also could not be further from what we see from those opposite. The very next day, the Leader of the Opposition delivered a keynote speech on Defence. Amidst various utterances on Defence spending, there were no details about the platforms on which they would spend the Defence budget. There were no details about the kind of Defence Force the coalition would build. There were no details about their strategic intent. Indeed, the speech was reminiscent of the 'Defence policy vacuum', which was so eloquently described by the Liberal Party's own election review. Overshadowing all of—

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