Fatima Payman (WA, Australia's Voice) Share this | Hansard source

Last year, the government announced that New Zealanders living in Australia could join the ADF with Canadians, Brits and Americans, eligible to enlist from January this year. But, in response to a question on notice I put to the government in March, we've now learned that just three people have been recruited. That's right—just three, all of them from New Zealand. This scheme was supposed to fix our recruitment crisis. It clearly hasn't. In fact, it hasn't even scratched the surface. It has been an extraordinary failure, another headline-grabbing initiative with no substance behind it. While recruitment numbers flatline, this government has written yet another $800 million cheque to the US military industrial complex. That is $800 million more towards AUKUS, with no guarantees that any submarines will be delivered and no refund if the deal collapses.

Now, imagine how easily this recruitment crisis could be overcome if we invested that money into improving the lives of our brave ADF personnel. Imagine if the ADF were seen not as a last resort but as a respected, well-supported career path. The government's fanfare around this recruitment initiative now looks like smoke and mirrors. Was this mismanagement? Was it just another ill-conceived policy? Or, like the click-to-cancel subscriptions issue I raised yesterday, is this just another Labor thought bubble with no follow-through? Senator Lambie has said it time and time again: this government neglects our veterans and our ADF personnel. The truth is that we don't have a recruitment crisis; we have a retention crisis. Until our brave men and women are properly supported, respected and paid better, this crisis will continue, and the responsibility will fall at Labor's feet. (Time expired)