House debates

Monday, 24 May 2021

Questions without Notice

Defence Industry

2:36 pm

Photo of Melissa McIntoshMelissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Defence Industry. Will the minister outline to the House how the Morrison government's plan for our defence industry works by creating more jobs and backing Australian businesses, including in our regions? Is the minister aware of any alternative approaches?

Photo of Melissa PriceMelissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | | Hansard source

I thank the member for Lindsay for her question and thank her for her support for the local defence industry but also, more broadly, her support for the manufacturing sector in her electorate.

The Morrison government is investing a record $270 billion in our defence capabilities, delivering jobs right across the nation. We say to the men and women in uniform, the men and women in our ADF: we have your back. Our record speaks for itself—ambitious shipbuilding in Henderson and in Adelaide; next-gen Army vehicles being built in Queensland, creating many jobs across the country; an F-35 sustainment hub in regional New South Wales; and record defence industry capabilities being built right across the nation. Our record speaks for itself.

Sadly, Labor's record also speaks for itself—shamefully gutting $18 billion from its defence budget. In stark contrast, we're not only delivering record investment in our Defence Force; we're delivering record opportunities for regional Australia to play a very, very important role in the defence of our nation. Nowhere is that clearer than in the Hunter Valley. On a recent trip to the Hunter, where I spoke at the annual Hunter Defence Conference, I had the great pleasure of launching the Defence Ready Pilot between Defence and HunterNet. Over the next 14 months, training courses will be offered free of charge to build up the skills of local Hunter SMEs in the region, to help better position them to be ready to be able to win those very important Defence contracts.

We've also announced to local contractors in the Hunter region that they will receive a boost of some $42.2 million worth of overhaul of facilities at the iconic Singleton military base. The Singleton mid-term facility refresh will improve amenities for the more than 1,000 ADF and civilian personnel at the base, with some 650 local Aussie jobs being supported during that construction period. Our investment in Singleton shows that defence industry is not just about the shipbuilders or the engineers that are building those very important ships and military vehicles. The local tradies, the local earthmoving contractors, those local family owned small SME building companies that are working on those major infrastructure projects, are also a critical part of Australia's growing defence industry, and we are very grateful to them.

Under Labor, investment in defence dropped to the lowest level that we'd seen since World War II. I think the result on the weekend in the Upper Hunter is hardly surprising, given that Labor is drifting away very, very quickly from regional Australia. On this side of the House, we're backing regional jobs—(Time expired)