Trent Zimmerman (North Sydney, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for North Sydney for his question. Our relationship with the United States in terms of defence is unsurpassed by any other country in the world. Our interoperability with the United States defence forces, our use of their combat systems integrated into our platforms, our cooperation and collaboration on major projects is our most important relationship in the world, and just this week it was reconfirmed by Australia winning the right to be the maintenance and sustainment hub in the Asia Pacific for componentry of the Joint Strike Fighter. The reason the member for North Sydney asked the question is that one of the businesses in his electorate, Rockwell Collins, will be one of the major providers of navigation systems and countermeasures for incoming weaponry for the Joint Strike Fighter program for the entire Asian-Pacific region. In fact the Minister for Human Services, the member for Aston, also will have a firm in his electorate called RUAG, who will do the landing gear for the Joint Strike Fighter program.

This builds on the success of the Joint Strike Fighter program, in becoming the maintenance and sustainment hub for engines for the entire Asia-Pacific area and for frames for the southern Asia-Pacific region. This was an international competition. The UK, the Netherlands, the US and Australia were the four countries chosen to maintain and sustain the Joint Strike Fighters all around and there will be 3,000 Joint Strike Fighters all around the world. Already, 30 businesses in Australia are doing $800 million worth of business in supplying to the Joint Strike Fighter program components of this particular platform. So this week's announcement on Tuesday is a very timely reminder of the importance of our defence relationship with the United States. It builds on many other things. I was in Washington a few weeks ago to talk to them about the Joint Strike Fighter program.

We could not have a better friend than we do in the United States, and they feel the same way about us, and any of our colleagues who travel to Washington would obviously know that. That is why it is critically important not to put those kinds of relationships at risk by having bad judgement. It was poor judgement of the Leader of the Opposition to refer to President Elect Trump in the way that he did—to personally denigrate President Elect Trump. It builds on the poor judgement that he showed in saying that he would not tell the Navy whether they should or should not take their vessels within 12 nautical miles of disputed territory. It was poor judgement when he hung on to Senator Sam Dastyari in spite of the fact that he clearly should not have been staying on the Labor Party front bench. It was poor judgement that led him to put Kimberley Kitching into the Senate. It is time his colleagues cut him loose. (Time expired)