Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Defence Personnel. What role will Defence personnel play in the historic AUKUS agreement?

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

The member for Hume!

Government members interjecting—

Order! Members on my right! The member for Hume will immediately withdraw that comment.

Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I withdraw.

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

I'll hear from the member for Wannon.

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I'd ask the Prime Minister to withdraw what he said as well. It was uncalled for, and he should withdraw what he had to say. He said that he wanted decency in this place. Then he should withdraw what he said, if he's got the decency to do so.

Honourable members interjecting—

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

As my starting point, there is far too much noise. I heard what the member for Hume said. I didn't hear what the Prime Minister said. Did the Prime Minister say something unparliamentary?

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

No, I didn't, Mr Speaker.

Honourable members interje cting—

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

Order! The Prime Minister has the call.

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

I responded to an interjection from the shadow Treasurer, but I'm happy to withdraw to assist the House.

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

The member for Solomon is warned.

Mr Brian Mitchell interjecting—

And the member for Lyons will cease interjecting immediately. I want to hear from the member for Swan.

Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Defence Personnel. What role will defence personnel play in the historic AUKUS agreement?

Matt Keogh (Burt, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Swan for her question and her tireless work advocating for skills training, especially in Western Australia. I urge her to keep that up, because there are going to be countless opportunities for Western Australians, coming out of this great AUKUS announcement, when it comes to maintenance, operation, sustainment and infrastructure build.

Following on from that, I cannot emphasise enough just how fundamental our Defence Force personnel are to the AUKUS announcement that was made last week. We know that it is our Defence Force personnel that is our most important capability. They are the ones that operate our great capabilities; they're the ones that keep our equipment moving and that are able to work in our national interest to make sure that we have the edge. Ultimately, it's not just about having the equipment; it's about making sure that we have the people that have the smarts to deliver the operation of that equipment in our national interest.

As part of that, we need to grow out naval force, particularly our submariners, and that's why this week we launched our new naval recruitment campaign, Live a Story Worth Telling, making sure that Australians are aware of the great breadth of opportunity that is available by being a member of our Navy, whether it's supporting Australians at home, supporting our near neighbours in times of crisis or emergency, or working overseas in support of our national interest, whether it's above the sea or below it. Especially now, with this great AUKUS announcement, we need to grow our submariner force. We need to grow that force from around 900 to over 3½ thousand by the 2050s to make sure that we have the capability of people to go with this great new capability of nuclear powered submarines. It's not just about the number; it's about the skills that they will hold, and that's why we have submariners now doing training with the United States and the United Kingdom, and that's only going to grow.

I had the great opportunity this week of visiting the USS Asheville while it was in port in Western Australia, meeting its fantastic crew and learning from them about the training that they are undertaking and the training that our submariners will be undertaking as we grow our capability here at home, working with our friends in the United States and the United Kingdom, growing that capability within our Defence Force personnel, growing that sovereign capability here to operate our own submarines from the 2030s onward. That's why this is going to be such a game changer for our country, for our Defence Force and for our submariners, and I encourage everyone to look at the great opportunities that exist in our Navy today.