Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in strong support of this bill, the Customs Tariff Amendment (Geelong Treaty Implementation) Bill 2025, which forms part of Australia's deep and enduring partnership with the United Kingdom. AUKUS represents a world renowned opportunity to uplift Australia's capability, and it strengthens our partnerships with our most trusted allies.

Australia is a respected voice on the international stage, due in no small part to the tireless work of our Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Penny Wong, whose leadership has restored and enhanced Australia's standing, particularly in our region but also across the globe. Our diplomatic efforts are fortified by our security here at home. We have a capable, modern defence force that underpins our commitment to peace and deterrence. Australia stands firmly for a rules based international order. We make no apology for supporting our democratic allies, nor for backing the multilateral institutions that help resolve disputes peacefully and prevent conflict.

As the Chair of the Defence Subcommittee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, I have travelled with my fellow committee members across the country meeting with academics, industry leaders, think tanks and Defence officials. Our current inquiry, into the Defence annual report 2023-24, has revealed the scale of change now underway in our strategic posture. Australia is leveraging our natural advantages by orienting our defence capability to the north and investing in sea power, ensuring we can respond with agility and strength to potential threats.

Central to this transformation is the AUKUS partnership. The acquisition of Virginia class submarines followed by the SSN-AUKUS is pivotal to Australia's ability to deter conflict. These submarines are the apex predators of the sea—capable, stealthy and strategically decisive. Complementary littoral capabilities in the Army will strengthen this posture, giving Australia the capacity to deploy and manoeuvre rapidly across our region. One Defence leader recently put to me that the Australian Army of the future may well become the largest navy in the region. Such is the scale of the transformation before us.

Let me be absolutely clear: Australia seeks nothing but peace. All our families yearn for that, and Australians are committed to the peace of the world. If these submarines never see conflict, they will in fact have done their job. Maintaining peace requires preparation, and preparation requires vigilance. My role as Chair of the Defence Subcommittee is to ensure that the Australian Defence Force is ready, capable and accountable because every dollar spent must work hard in the national interest. Defence is in many ways our national insurance policy. We hope we never have to draw on it, but when the unexpected comes, as history tells us it can, it's an immense relief to know that we're ready.

Australia's cooperation with the United Kingdom and the United States is longstanding and deeply woven into our history. This was made starkly clear during my recent visit to Darwin, where the memory of the 1942 bombings remains alive in the community. It's a part of the collective psyche. Without the support of our allies during that dark chapter, Australia's defence would have been far more precarious.

Importantly, AUKUS is not only a defence story. It's a nation-building story. This treaty will underpin our bilateral cooperation for at least 50 years. In doing so, it will support the construction of Australia's conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarines and will create around 20,000 secure, high-skill, long-term jobs.

It struck me, as the committee was undertaking its inquiry last week, that in the time since I left school we've seen an erosion of long-term employment for Australians. So many jobs have been shifting as the economy has been changing and the nature of living has been changing. With support for industry now, particularly in shipbuilding, we will arrive at a point where it will be possible for people who are going into training now to have the chance of a lifelong career building amazing ships that support the defence of our nation and the growth of our economy. This is a very significant change for Australians. For those who might be in the chamber listening to my contribution today or those across this great nation who have got the wireless tuned in to hear what's happening, this is something that should not be lost. We are able to take steps to advance this possibility of hi-tech, high-skilled engagement in an authentic way in innovation for our nation through our strategic partnership with both the US and the UK.

I know how much the Minister for Defence, who hails from Geelong, has invested in that community—and don't we all know how proud he is to be a boy from Geelong! To now have the Geelong treaty as part of our nation's history and our shared collaboration with the UK is no small thing. It is in fact a deeply significant, symbolic, practical and historic moment.

What's really great about this project is that there will be good, secure jobs. In an era when work is too often insecure and fragmented, we have the prospect of well-paid, long-term employment positions, giving people a chance to build skills, raise a family and retire with dignity. This is an opportunity we are seizing with both hands. AUKUS will certainly drive a generational uplift in Australian skills, and it will create a thriving ecosystem of local industries supporting and sustaining this capability.

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting the Henderson defence precinct, ably guided by my Western Australian colleague Senator Ellie Whiteaker. What I saw there was defence industry and maritime businesses working together, sharing expertise, pooling resources and strengthening the sovereign capability that keeps Australia safe. There is so much for us to do and so much more that can happen in this space.

I encourage all members of this chamber—and I note the agreement of the opposition in their first contribution to this debate—to support the Customs Tariff Amendment (Geelong Treaty Implementation) Bill as a critical part of developing the infrastructure for the ongoing renewal of our industry, the defence of our nation and the honouring of our partnerships with like-minded countries that aspire to a world at peace where the rule of law prevails.