Ralph Babet (Victoria, United Australia Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to put it plainly to Australians: our nation must become self-sufficient and self-reliant. We're not a fragile outpost; we're an entire continent rich in iron ore, coal, gas, uranium, fertile land, sunshine, water—all of it. We've got it all. Yet somehow we behave like a country with nothing. We dig the wealth out of the ground, we ship it overseas, and we buy it back at a premium once others have made it useful. It's ridiculous. This is not economic strategy. It's national self-sabotage.

Now, any serious country would ask: 'Why can't we refine our own fuel? Why can't we manufacture our own medicines? Why can't we build a car? Why can't we build our own advanced technology here at home, instead of importing everything?' We rely on these global supply chains, and we don't control them. We can't guarantee what happens. One disruption and we're all exposed, vulnerable. We're dependent.

Then there's defence. We speak about alliances. They matter, but they're not sovereignty, right? In a crisis, every nation is going to look after itself first. Now Australia must be able to stand on its own two feet, not wait, not hope and not ask. It must stand.

What of our culture? Like our industries, it's increasingly imported until, eventually, we're going to become indistinguishable from everywhere else. A nation that forgets who it is does not remain a nation for long. It just doesn't; that's the simple truth of it. A country that can't stand alone is eventually going to be made to kneel. Australia has everything that we need right here—every resource, every advantage and everything, it seems, except the will to act like a sovereign nation. That's got to change decisively and without any delay. We should be able to build a big, giant, beautiful wall around Australia and have everything that we need right here without having to rely on anyone.