Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Sorry, what a slip of the tongue—annus horribilis. Seriously, what a shocking situation when our defence forces not only are denied a pay rise to stay in line with the cost of living but effectively are getting a pay cut. When the minister was asked about what he has done to lobby the Prime Minister or the cabinet to overturn this ridiculous situation they have found themselves in, he said he was not even there. He was not even in the room. He was not even at the press conference.

What I can take away from this is that the minister is way out of his depth—he is completely out of his depth. But I am not the only one who thinks that. I want to quote an article from The Australian by Dennis Shanahan. No-one on this side could ever accuse Dennis Shanahan of being a mad leftie. In fact, my opinion of Mr Shanahan is that he is the cheer squad leader for the government. From wonderful questioning by my mate Senator Gallacher a couple of weeks ago of the minister about the ASC in Adelaide, he came out with the shocking line that will always haunt his political career—and even once he has gone: that he would not trust them to build a canoe. Dennis Shanahan said on 27 November:

But the Prime Minister should act quickly, shift Johnston and cauterise not just the wound the Defence Minister has opened but wider self-inflicted wounds of political management.

There is no argument there. He goes on to say in the same article:

There is good reason for Abbott's loyalty because Johnston, as Defence Minister, is prepared to accept a good deal of prime ministerial military enthusiasm and interference, although unthinking loyalty coupled with stubbornness is not a luxury that leaders can afford.

These are very potent words. The Minister for Defence, the man who is entrusted with our military procurement, absolutely trashed our brand. He trashed the ASC brand in Adelaide. He absolutely infuriated the 3,000-plus workforce—those hardworking men and women, with skills that are not picked out of a Weeties box; they are skills that are gained after years and years on the job, and through TAFEs and the like—which, Mr Deputy President, you can relate to, because you yourself are a tradesman.

For the Minister for Defence to come out and say—here in our parliament—and to have it broadcast on every bugle, both print and electronic—what the minister thinks of our defence capability is absolutely abhorrent. It is even more abhorrent that the Prime Minister can sit there and accept that ridiculous statement made by a senior minister, and not even give an apology—not even a simple, 'I really got that wrong; I absolutely apologise to all those hardworking men and women in South Australia.' No, no—we had weasel words. What was the phrase? It was just some rhetorical flourish. Goodness me, Mr Acting Deputy President, how can Australians have faith in not only this incompetent defence minister but also the Prime Minister? While we are on some of the shocking situations that we had this year: this year will go down as the year of broken promises. For a prime minister to go out there and to absolutely break every promise and every commitment that he had made—'no cuts to health, no cuts to education, no cuts to the pension, no cuts to the ABC, no cuts to the SBS'—that is just a continuation of lies and broken promises. And then, when our defence minister smacks 3,000 hardworking Australians in South Australia right in the gob, and makes that absolutely disgraceful statement—'we would not trust them to build a canoe'—our Prime Minister applauds him. He just sits there and protects him—disgraceful. (Time expired)