Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

That is a very important question from Senator McGrath. We do know what happens when you lose control of spending and lose control of your own budget. Under those opposite, defence spending was slashed by $18 billion to the lowest level since 1938. As this chamber knows only too well, Labor also failed to place a single order at an Australian naval shipyard for a single ship in six years, while Australia's defence industry shed more than 10 per cent of its workforce. Under Labor's management of our border protection policies, as Minister Cash has often reminded this chamber, more than 50,000 people arrived on over 800 boats and, tragically, there were 1,200 deaths at sea. The result of Labor's border protection failures was a cost estimated at $16 billion to clean up their mess. This side of politics is committed to responsible fiscal management so that we can ensure we are able to continue to invest in the essential services that we require to keep Australians safe.