Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Defence Industry. How is the Albanese Labor government delivering the defence capability needed to keep Australia safe while creating jobs and building a defence future made in Australia? How does this compare to other approaches?

Pat Conroy (Shortland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Bendigo for her question and her fierce advocacy for Australia's defence industry. Delivering the capability our ADF needs is critical to our nation's safety. We're focused on this and at the same time building a defence future made in Australia. That's why we're overseeing the largest peacetime increase in defence spending in Australia's history.

I'm proud to say to the House that three-quarters of the defence budget is spent in Australia, and as a result the Australian defence industry is growing. Since we came to government, Australian defence manufacturing output has grown by 35 per cent, and that's leading to more Aussie jobs and more Aussie capability. Last year alone, defence manufacturing employment grew by a massive 11 per cent in this country, and we've got a steady drumbeat of deliverables. Just last month we announced a $750 million investment to build almost 300 new Bushmaster vehicles in Bendigo—the largest single order for Bushmasters since the production line opened in 1999, supporting 300 direct local jobs for the next seven years and supporting thousands throughout the supply chain. The Bushmaster is one of Australia's great defence industry success stories. It is world leading and is in service in nine countries. It uses Illawarra steel shaped in Broadmeadows and is made in Bendigo.

The fact is we're rebuilding Australia's defence manufacturing industry after a decade of neglect. We've opened a Ghost Shark factory in Sydney. We opened a missile factory in SA last year and are opening a second in the Hunter next year and a third after that. We've placed the largest ever order of Aussie drones and we're investing in Australian made lasers to defeat drones. On top of that, we're also investing in supporting continuous naval shipbuilding in Australia, including building 26 landing craft in WA. This will create 1,100 direct jobs and more than 2,000 indirect jobs along the process. And then we'll build the upgraded Mogami class frigates after that.

All of this comes after a decade of neglect—a decade of neglect that was recognised by Joe Hockey this week, who said, and I quote: 'We got it wrong. We should have stuck with Australian shipbuilding and had continuous shipbuilding, but instead we went elsewhere.' Never has a truer word been spoken. The truth is they had six shambolic ministers and three hopeless shadow ministers, and the result is they have failed up again with the Leader of the Opposition promoted into this position. The truth is you can only trust Labor on defence, not those opposite.