Jodie Belyea (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister. How is the Albanese Labor government delivering on recruitment and retention in the Australian Defence Force, and what difficulties has this faced in the past?

Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question. The simple facts are that, at the beginning of 2022, the Australian Defence Force was in numerical decline. Under the coalition, the annual separation rate at the ADF had grown to a whopping 11.2 per cent. At the same time recruitment was in the doldrums, and what that meant was that in the last two years of their government, the Defence Force shrunk by 1,400 personnel. Yet at the same time their government provided a fanciful and grandiose announcement of increasing the Defence workforce by more than 18,000 personnel, an announcement which came with a massive price tag and, unsurprisingly and correspondingly, a massive, allocated funding deficit. Because the most arid, deserted, friendless place for Defence spending was the Liberal Party Expenditure Review Committee. The truth is that, the record in government on defence spending under those opposite was an absolute disgrace

In the last three years and more, under our government, we have dramatically turned that situation around, and I would like to pay credit to the Minister for Defence Personnel. From our very first budget, we increased the Defence offering, focusing on housing, then focusing on family benefits, then focusing on improving wages in areas of skilled workforce shortage and then focusing on improving and increasing retention bonuses. All of that has meant that, today, the separation rate for the ADF has fallen to 7.7 per cent, below the long-term average. At the same time, we are now finding young Australians where they are—

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

The member for Fisher! I don't know what's going on, but you're going to cease interjecting for the remainder of this answer and every other answer during question time. You're on a warning. We're just going to listen to the minister.

Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We're finding young Australians where they are—advertising on gaming apps and social media. In the last 12 months, there have been 75,000 applications to join the ADF, the largest number in years. While there's still more work to do, we're now processing those applications faster. That has meant that, in the last financial year, more than 7,000 Australians have enlisted in the full-time force, the largest number in 15 years.

Today, the full-time force stands at 61,494. That represents an increase of 2,100 in the last 12 months. What it shows is that, when you value people's service, when you meet young Australians on their own terms and when you improve your processes, young Australians are actually willing to serve our nation by wearing Australia's uniform. Given the world today, that is fundamentally important to our national interest.