Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I find myself in furious agreement with the member for Spence, and, when I finish my remarks, the member for Spence—if he's still here—and the member for Adelaide should absolutely applaud. I'll tell you who else should be applauding, and that's Tom Koutsantonis, the Treasurer of South Australia, because, but for the investment, the hope and the opportunity that the Morrison-McCormack and Morrison-Joyce governments put into shipbuilding in Adelaide, his coffers would be nowhere near what they are going to be in the future.

I speak to the Treasurer of South Australia often. He's a good fellow, and he would, I'm sure, in a bipartisan way acknowledge the work the former federal coalition government did in this space. I know the member for Sturt has brought this important—and I will say it's important because AUKUS is important—private member's bill into the parliament. I know that Labor often does this victory lap when it comes to talking about defence spending and investment in the most critical area of government—that is, the protection of our people. But just listen to these couple of statistics. These are from the former coalition government. It's the last three years of delivery, in numbers: 70 defence vessels and 1,700 vehicles built in Australia, 100,000 defence industry jobs and 15,000 small and medium business supported—supported by both the member for New England and me, as former deputy prime ministers, supported by the coalition and supporting Australians. There is no more critical investment for our nation right now than defence because the world is a volatile place. We are facing headwinds, on both economic and certainly defence positions, that we haven't seen since 1945, the end of the Second World War.

They are worrying times. They truly are. You only have to turn on the news of a night or just look at your phones at any minute of the day and you'll see the contest for the Strait of Hormuz and see the price of petrol and diesel at the bowser. This is all because of global worries, global concerns and global interventions.

The AUKUS timeline is an interesting read. You'll see that, in late 2019, then prime minister Morrison tasked defence officials to look into the feasibility of acquiring nuclear powered submarines after doubts over the French contract. I was part of all of those discussions and I know full well why we had those doubts and why we did what we did as far as AUKUS was concerned. There are no greater friends—let's face it—than the United Kingdom and the United States when it comes to defence. The proposal for AUKUS was presented in May 2021 to the full National Security Committee, which gave permission to approach US and UK leaders with an official government policy that had been brought about because of what was going on at the time—which of course has followed on since then.

When AUKUS was announced, on 15 September 2021, it was a red-letter day for Australia and a red-letter day for South Australia, no less, because it did mean that there were going to be ongoing jobs and security. I appreciate that Adelaide suffered greatly when the car manufacturing companies left, and we needed to absolutely make sure that all of those highly skilled jobs were retained in Adelaide, in South Australia. It's an important part of our national fabric and certainly of our manufacturing in this country.

In September 2021, an 18-month consultation period began into how Australia would acquire nuclear-powered subs and which model it would go with. I know that there were important talks going on between Prime Ministers Morrison and Johnson, from the UK, and the then president of the US, Joe Biden, and there was agreement to determine by March 2023 the optimal pathway for an Australian conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarine capability. I spoke to former president Biden on the sidelines—I suppose you could call it that—of the late pontiff's funeral, in Rome, and he was so pleased that they were partnering up with Australia, because if you ask any American Marine, any American serviceman or servicewoman, they will tell you that the best partners in the world are Australians. They know of our defence capability; they know we train them well—of course at Wagga Wagga, through the home of the soldier, Kapooka—and they know that, if Australia gives its word, it means it.

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