David Johnston (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Out of respect for the privacy of people who have worked with me, I will not comment publicly on staffing matters. The Department of Defence is investigating the origins of the material that was published and, as such, it is inappropriate for me to comment on that inquiry. However, I would make a general point. As a senior cabinet minister and a member of the National Security Council, I require the highest standard of probity and secure management of information within my office. Let me be clear: I will continue to maintain those standards. I have a very heavy responsibility, I take it seriously and I discharge it without hesitation.

As an office that has been disparaged by the senator, I want to run through some of the things that this office has achieved in a very short space of time. We have restored the defence budget—and let me tell you, that has taken some work. We have acquired 58 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft. We have acquired the Triton broad area maritime unmanned aerial vehicle. We have acquired P-8 Poseidon maritime aircraft to replace our P-3s. We have brought forward work necessary to keep open the option of building the future frigate in Australia—something you never did. We fixed the Air Warfare Destroyer Program. We have provided new vehicles to special forces. We have restarted the ADF gap year program. We have indexed military superannuation. We have freed up basic health for all defence family members. We have started a white paper team, established it and issued discussion papers. The first principles review team is at work. We have signed a defence cooperation agreement with Japan. We have restored our military relationship with Indonesia. We have excised part of the Woomera prohibited area and we have opened it up for mining. We have conducted exercises in Australia with the Chinese. (Time expired)