Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Page is warned. I want to remind the whole House that, when questions are asked, they'll be heard in silence. It is highly disrespectful to interject before a minister answers a question.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Hasluck for her question and for her interest in Australia's national security. Last week saw the announcement in San Diego by me, President Biden and Prime Minister Sunak of the single biggest investment in Australia's defence capability in our history: strengthening Australia's national security and stability in our region; building a future made in Australia with record investments in skills, jobs and infrastructure; and delivering a superior defence capability into the future. But we're not just investing in our capability; we're investing in our relationships. I'll have more to say about the relationship with the Pacific and India, which was also enhanced, later on in question time today.

The fact is that, for the first time in 65 years and only the second time in history, the United States has agreed to share its nuclear propulsion technology. This will be an Australian sovereign capability, built by Australians, commanded by the Royal Australian Navy and sustained by Australian workers in Australian shipyards. We will contribute to the peace, stability and prosperity of our region and, of course we'll continue to adhere to our obligations under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and the treaty of Rarotonga. We've been talking, throughout this period, with the IAEA to make sure that those obligations are upheld.

This will unlock a set of transformative opportunities for Australia, for jobs and skills and research and innovation—opportunities that will shape, strengthen and grow Australia's economy for decades, creating around 20,000 direct jobs for Australians: engineers, scientists, technicians, submariners, administrators and tradespeople. This will require a whole-of-nation effect and that's why, working particularly with the WA and South Australian state governments, it will make an enormous difference, training and skilling Australians. The scale, complexity and economic significance of this investment is akin to what happened when Curtin and Chifley created the Australian automotive industry in the postwar period. This will have a massive spin-off for Australian manufacturing and for the Australian economy. I thank, in particular, the defence minister and his team for the extraordinary work that they have done in the lead-up to this announcement.