Peter Lindsay (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for Defence. Would the minister update the House on how the Australian Defence Force is contributing to a more secure region and protecting Australia’s broader security interests?

Brendan Nelson (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Herbert for his question and his championship of the defence community in Townsville. I also take the opportunity to welcome to the House the midshipmen from the Royal Australian Naval College, HMAS Creswell, and thank them for committing their lives to the service of Australia and the Royal Australian Navy.

Honourable Members:

Hear, hear!

Brendan Nelson (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government has three objectives in terms of the defence and security of Australia. It is firstly about defending and securing our borders; secondly, about security in our region—as the Prime Minister said, instability in our region means instability for Australia; thirdly, to recognise that what happens in remote parts of the world has everything to do with the security of our country in this the 21st century.

The Australian Defence Force of 51,000 personnel is undertaking at the moment a wide range of activities across that broad global theatre. Recently we saw 400 ADF personnel assisting Australians with Operation Larry Assist. Two and a half thousand supported security at the Commonwealth Games. Every day there are 300 ADF personnel defending our borders with naval and air assets from everything from illegal fishing through to those who seek to come to Australia unlawfully. In our region more recently I think all Australians were impressed by the very rapid response to the Solomon Islands and the events which happened on 19 April. I announced yesterday that, with security and stability having been returned to the Solomon Islands, Australia will wind down its current deployment from 370 to 150.

Today, as the Prime Minister has said, the Australian Defence Force is doing it again. Having had two weeks of pre-positioning, today, subject to the agreement of the East Timorese government, we will deploy around 1,300 ADF personnel. We do not do that lightly. We know that this is going to be a particularly dangerous mission, but we know that it is important for the people of East Timor, the stability of our region and the security of Australia that we play a significant and lead role in ensuring security in East Timor. As the foreign minister said, the situation in East Timor is very unstable, it is very dangerous and there are also incidents occurring as the day progresses which give no reason to believe that it is likely to improve in the foreseeable future. Equally, the commitments the government has made in Afghanistan and Iraq in supporting democracy and overcoming terrorism have everything to do with what happens in Australia.

We are able to undertake these tasks because the government has made a significant financial commitment to improving the size and structure of the ADF. We have taken the proportion of ADF personnel that are combat ready from 42 per cent to 62 per cent. The government has also committed over the next 10 years, which will bring the total to 15 years, a three per cent real increase in funding above and beyond inflation. Should the East Timor deployment fully proceed, we will have around 3½ thousand ADF personnel deployed from a Defence Force of some 51,000. If we were asked to assist with humanitarian or other kinds of issues—whether in our own country or in our region—I can assure you we have much more in our back pocket. The government has well-advanced strategic planning for the future of the ADF.