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

I thank the member for his question and acknowledge his great contribution as the government's special envoy for defence.

This morning, I had the very real pleasure of meeting with my good friend Boris Pistorius, the German Minister for Defence. Germany is the third-largest economy in the world, with a growing defence budget. It is already far and away the largest contributor in support of Ukraine, and it is becoming one of the major defence players in the world. Given we share values and we have deep trust, the Germany-Australia defence relationship is profoundly important. And, as Minister Pistorius has said, Germany is also a country which supports the global rules-based order—an order which gives agency to middle powers like Australia, an order which is very much, therefore, in our national interest. Precisely because the order is under pressure, it is an order which must be defended and spoken for right now, which is why we are so appreciative of the comments that Minister Pistorius and, for that matter, President von der Leyen have made in Canberra this week.

Our relationship has an operational dimension. In 2023, when we sent our first E-7 to Europe in support of Ukraine, it operated out of the Ramstein Air Base in Germany, and, in turn, Germany participated in Exercise Talisman Sabre here last year and will do so again with its Eurofighters in Exercise Pitch Black in Darwin in July. Today we signed a letter of intent to cooperate in respect of space because space-domain awareness is a critical part of modern military capability.

There is also a very significant defence industry dimension to the relationship. Rheinmetall, a German company, has established a facility in Brisbane, which is providing high-skill, high-wage jobs in your electorate, Mr Speaker, where it is building combat reconnaissance vehicles, the Boxers, for both the German and the Australian armies. When Minister Pistorius visits Brisbane tomorrow, we will sign a letter of cooperation with TDW, a German company which will be involved in the manufacture of missiles here in Australia.

We are on opposite sides of the globe, but, in an increasingly connected world, the Germany-Australia defence relationship is becoming more and more important, and that is fantastic because Germany is a reliable and trusted friend of Australia.

See this speech in context