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

I rise to give attention to a sobering fact: Australia is under sustained attack, not a conventional war with tanks and troops but a campaign of coercion and interference, with cyberattacks on our banks and hospitals, espionage in our institutions, coercive trade measures, dangerous provocations against our servicemen and women, and assaults on places of worship. This is a warfare without a formal declaration but not without victims. Australians feel it when their data stolen, when services are disrupted, when communities are pitted against each other and when they are made to feel unsafe in their own homes and suburbs.

Our security agencies have made clear we face the most dangerous circumstances since the Second World War. Great power competition has returned, and its centre of gravity is our region. It's a contest between open societies and the axis of autocracies. Russia, Iran, North Korea and the Chinese Communist Party are working together more closely than ever and using every lever of power short of open conflict: manipulating international rules; funding proxy crime and terror groups; coercing smaller nations through trade, technology and energy; and waging persistent cyber and information campaigns against countries like ours.

Australia sits in the eye of the storm, pulled by two powerful forces—a weakening economy and rising threats to our sovereignty. In such a moment, what we need most is clarity of leadership—clarity about the threat, our alliances and about the national priorities. Leadership starts with telling the truth, even when it is uncomfortable, yet Labor still struggles to name the threat plainly and consistently. We are not getting clarity from this government. We should be crystal clear about the world we face. We oppose Russia's illegal and brutal war in Ukraine. We welcome early steps towards a peace deal and the government's confirmation that more assistance is soon to be announced. That assistance must be substantial, timely and focused on learning the lessons of this conflict to better protect our great country.

Turning to our region, it is vital to strengthen trade relationships with the Chinese people. But the Chinese Communist Party is a strategic competitor, with flares fired at our aircraft, live-fire exercises off the coast, foreign interference on our soil and state-sponsored cyberattacks on our infrastructure. In recent days, we have seen coercion directed at our great friend and trading partner Japan for merely asserting its right to self defence and peace in our region. At the same time, we must never confuse the threat posed by an authoritarian government with the contribution of its diaspora. From Ballarat to Young, Chinese Australian communities have helped build our towns and our prosperity. Our disagreements lie with the authoritarian states that seek to upend the rules based order on which our freedom and prosperity depend, not with Australians who have come here seeking the freedom and prosperity and who yearn for their families to enjoy the same freedoms at home.

Labor has weakened our standing with Israel, a long-standing democratic partner, and too often dragged its feet on AUKUS, leaving our servicemen and women waiting for the capabilities they need and denying Australian industry the jobs, skills and innovation we know AUKUS can deliver. But national security doesn't exist in a vacuum. We cannot defend our country with a weak economy. We cannot build unity and resilience in a nation where too many Australians are locked out of the opportunity of homeownership and rising living standards, and that is why prosperity and sovereignty live hand in hand. They are twin national priorities, not competing goals; they depend on each other. A stronger economy gives us the resources we need to invest in defence, intelligence, cybersecurity and critical infrastructure, and to defend that critical infrastructure. Greater sovereignty in energy, industry and technology protects our prosperity from coercion and threats. Our path forward should be clear: Australians are entitled to leadership that levels with them about the risks, sets clear priorities and that has a credible plan to restore prosperity and strengthen our sovereignty.

That is the test that a government must meet to rebuild our strong economy, a sovereign nation and a safer future for our children; to move on from rhetoric to readiness; and to ensure Australia stands on its own two feet while standing shoulder to shoulder with our allies.