Leon Rebello (McPherson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on this motion in relation to the signing of the Australia-European Union Security and Defence Partnership. The world is changing. Across the world, we are seeing some quite significant shifts. Australia finds itself facing the most consequential shift in our international circumstances since the First Fleet arrived in 1788. As such, we as a country need to be capable of finding our feet in a new and shifting world order, and that looks like a multi-polar world order. We need to accept that our relationships with various allies have shifted and changed and will evolve in the future. As such, our security response must shift, change and evolve as well. We will always benefit from having more trusted friends. That's why the coalition supports stronger cooperation between Australia and the European Union. We will support such cooperation with democratic partners because, as I've said, the strategic environment we're finding ourselves in is shifting and it's deteriorating rapidly. Like-minded democracies must work together.

The point I'd make is that partnerships are not enough. We need to make sure that we have the domestic preparedness to stand on our own two feet as well. Whilst we should be working towards partnerships, whether of an economic or of a political nature, we should also make sure that our investment in our local defence capabilities is second to none.

This motion speaks to 'the government's commitment to continue to provide new international opportunities for Australian businesses at the cutting edge of defence technology and innovation'. As has been pointed out by some of the previous speakers on this side of the chamber, we need to actually see what the government is saying here turned into action. The reality of what we've seen over the last couple of years and in particular over the last week or so since the budget is that the small businesses in Australia who are working and operating in the defence space—let alone those who may want to innovate and enter that space—are not getting the support that they need. In actual fact, they're being disadvantaged and deterred from continuing to do well in that space. We've seen that most notably with the recent changes to the CGT. That is driving businesses in my electorate and across the southern Gold Coast, many of which do operate in the defence space, away from further innovating and building on their capabilities—capabilities that we very much need in order to be comfortable in the new strategic and security environment that Australia is facing now.

I've said that the coalition supports alliances and partnerships with our democratic friends, and we have a strong history of that. We've seen it through ANZUS, through the Five Eyes, through AUKUS. Those trusted democratic relationships will be important for our own resilience. I hope that the government not only continues to talk about this but starts to act in relation to making sure that our businesses are given the best opportunity to excel in this space. But it's not just our businesses; it's also making sure we put our money where our mouth is when it comes to our veterans, when it comes to our Defence Force, when it comes to instilling a culture in this country that young Australians can be proud of and be prepared and proud to defend and to engage in the businesses that do so. Without that, partnerships will only mean so much.

I say to the government take this as an opportunity to seize on the partnership and what it means. Take it as an opportunity to get that next generation interested and engaged, but also take it as an opportunity to make sure we are not just in word but in action supporting those across the country who are building the next generation of defence capability for Australia. That, ultimately, is going to determine whether or not we fail or succeed in this new multipolar, complex strategic environment.

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