Natasha Griggs (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Defence. Will the minister update the House on the government's progress in restoring defence funding to two per cent of gross domestic product in this year's budget. What does this mean for the men and women of the armed forces.

Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I acknowledge the member for Solomon and I particularly acknowledge her strong representation in this House for the men and women of the Australian defence forces and their families who reside in Darwin and service at places such as Larrakeyah and Robertson barracks, at HMAS Coonawarra and also at the RAAF Base Darwin.

The first priority of a national government is the safety and security of its citizens. It is for that reason that this government has committed to return defence expenditure to two per cent of gross domestic product by 2002-23, within a 10-year time frame. This is good for the Australian defence forces because it provides the resources to the men and women in uniform in Australia to do their important task. It is good for all Australians because it means that we can ensure the safety and the security of our citizens, and of course it is good for the tens of thousands of people who are employed in defence industries around Australia.

As John O'Callaghan from the Australian Industry Group said, the defence budget 'sends a very strong positive signal to industry'. Examples of that are the purchase of two additional C17 Globemasters. These are the giant transport aircraft. We saw them in action in humanitarian and disaster relief missions at Vanuatu recently and also in a rescue mission in Nepal. It means 21 new Pacific patrol boats, a $2 billion expenditure in both the shipbuilding and the sustainment of these patrol boats. It means the $391 million which is being spent this year in the fight against Daesh or ISIL in the Middle East—an overall operational funding of more than $900 million next year. As the Australian Defence Association said: 'investment in national defence infrastructure is finally beginning to restore inter-generational equity'; or as Mark Thomson from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute said: 'the 2015 Budget was a very good one for Defence'. We agree on this side of the House. The $31.9 billion that the coalition has budgeted for Defence in 2015-16 represents record funding for the men and women in uniform in Australia and their civilian counterparts—the men and women who ensure the safety and the security of this nation.