Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Science) Share this | Hansard source

We are living in dangerous times. Our most senior Defence leaders, intelligence agencies and strategic experts have been clear: Australia is facing the most dangerous strategic environment since the Second World War. Conflict breaking out in our region is no longer a remote possibility. The Defence secretary and the deputy secretary have respectively warned that the risk of an incident has heightened over recent years and that the trajectory is becoming more risky, not less risky.

The director-general of our domestic intelligence agency, ASIO, recently warned that China is conducting multiple attempts to scan and penetrate critical infrastructure in Australia and other Five Eyes countries. According to Mr Burgess, they are targeting water, transport, telecommunications and energy networks—pre-positioning for a potential sabotage of critical infrastructure. These grey-zone activities appear to be increasing at the same time as the Chinese Communist Party undergoes the largest military build up of any nation since the Second World War, without providing any strategic assurances.

These are, by and large, agreed facts within Australian politics. Where we disagree with those opposite is how we should respond. Alarmingly, the Albanese Labor government seems content to respond to the increasing challenges of today on yesterday's budget. Earlier this month, it was reported in the Australian that the ADF's three service chiefs have told Defence Strategic Review lead, Sir Angus Houston, that they are being forced to slash their sustainment budgets. One example is the revelation that, under Labor, dozens of workers maintaining and upgrading the F-35 fighter jets have been redeployed to comply with budget requirements. Such decisions leave critical platforms and the nation exposed at a time when we can no longer rely on an extended warning time. So it begs the question: what is the purpose of having multimillion dollar equipment if it is not properly maintained and ready for use at a moment's notice? Honestly, if conflict were to break out, I don't expect the enemy to sit around and wait for Australia to catch up.

Now, while sustainment appears to be on the chopping block, we are also not investing in new capabilities, and this is where Australian defence industry is suffering. Obtaining nuclear-powered submarines through the AUKUS partnership is a generational opportunity for our security and for Australian industry, and it must be realised, but delivering AUKUS should not come at the expense of other capability requirements. As the Leader of the Opposition called for in an address on national security last week, we need to meet this moment with seriousness, urgency and action. That begins with increasing defence spending to at least three per cent of GDP. This should include investing in mass missile production and the development of an integrated air and missile defence system, allowing us to detect and destroy missiles fired at the Australian mainland. We need a greater ability to rapidly build, deploy and resupply unmanned and autonomous weapon systems. We should be learning the lessons from Ukraine in rapid drone development and continue work on undersea weapons systems.

Critically, we also need to develop a greater sovereign capability for satellite connectivity. Whether it's missile defence, drones, strike power or intelligence, communication is key, and, without our own satellites, we are left exposed and dependent on others. Unfortunately, last year, the Albanese government cancelled our largest Defence space project, JP 9102, which would have provided locally controlled and operated geostationary communication satellites and ground stations. Now, even the projects Labor say that they are committed to are not moving at speed. You need only to look at the Henderson shipyard in my home state of Western Australia. The latest warning on progress at Henderson came last week from Austal CEO Paddy Gregg, who has raised the prospect of Western Australia losing out on multibillion dollar shipbuilding contracts. He has called for less talking and more doing from the government and has said, 'We haven't seen a whole lot of action, and we don't have long to wait.' This stands in stark contrast to the claim of the Minister for Defence that work at Henderson is happening at a pace. Well, I think we all know it's more like at a snail's pace!

Labor was elected in 2022 and stalled decisions on the Henderson redevelopment. They still don't expect planning to be completed even by 2027. The coalition fully supports the vision for Henderson as a defence precinct that will deliver continuous shipbuilding, starting with Army's Landing Craft Heavy and then the domestic build element of the Mogami program. It will also be the site to support the sustainment of Australia's surface combat vessels and will play an important role in delivering the AUKUS agreement as a contingency docking area for our future nuclear-powered submarine fleet and the site of depot level maintenance, including graving docks. It is essential we get this right.

Labor's failures on defence extend well beyond preparedness. Unfortunately, there are too many incidents of this government treating our defence personnel and veterans in a disgraceful manner, and I don't need to look too far to see this problem with an ongoing issue surrounding the closure of the Flying Start childcare centre at RAAF Base Pearce in the southern part of my electorate. Defence family stations in Bullsbrook were recently given just three months notice that Flying Start would be closed and that they would need to find alternative arrangements. With such short notice and proximate centres being near capacity, defence families face substantially higher out-of-pocket costs and longer commute times. I was contacted by one defence family who noted that the reasoning for the closure—apparent increased aircraft noise—just didn't add up.

Seven weeks ago, I wrote to the Minister for Defence and Minister for Defence Personnel, asking for clarity. Sadly, some seven weeks have gone by and, despite multiple follow-ups with the ministers' offices, I am yet to receive a response. Worse yet, the defence families who have reached out directly to multiple WA Labor MPs have also been ignored. I mean, come on—this is no way to treat our Defence families. To make real and substantial gains in recruitment and retention, we need to make Defence an attractive proposition for families.

Labor's approach to making decisions without input from personnel or veterans was also evident through their shameful proposed changes to the Defence honours and awards system. The Defence Amendment (Defence Honours and Awards Appeal Tribunal) Bill 2025 was introduced in the House in August without any consultation with the coalition or key stakeholders in the ex-service community. When it made its way to the relevant Senate committee, there was 74 of 75 public submissions that outlined strong opposition to the bill—that's 74 out of 75. The only submission that supported the bill was from the Department of Defence who just happened to be the author of the bill. This bill would have stripped away appeal rights of the ADF personnel and veterans and placed a 20-year time limit on the actions of our service men and women. This effectively put a use-by date on, 'We will remember them'—absolutely disgusting! Thankfully, the coalition was able to secure the support of the Senate crossbench to force the Albanese government to withdraw this legislation.

Those opposite will try and say that we're just picking fights and that Labor really is in the corner of our veterans—well, the actions don't show that. We didn't hear one word of condemnation from those opposite when former prime minister Keating launched his disgusting slur on the former national RSL president and retired major general Greg Melick. Let me let me just remind you what the former prime minister said. He had a crack at Major General Melick, who'd used his Remembrance Day address to warn that we need to lift defence spending to deter growing regional threats. For the crime, Mr Keating branded him 'another RSL dope'. He accused him of wanting to 'drag us into a military exchange with the Chinese' who, according to Mr Keating, have never held an intention to attack Australia.

In times like this we should be listening to people like Major General Melick, who has served our nation in uniform for 50 years. That service should be met with respect, not insults. Unfortunately, the minister for Veteran's Affairs–the same minister who won't get back to me on the Flying Start centre and who introduced the honours and awards recognition legislation—chose to rebuke Major General Malik, not Mr Keating. Not good enough.

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