Senator the Hon. Robert Hill,
Minister for Defence
Leader of the Government in the Senate
DOORSTOP INTERVIEW
Holsworthy
11:00am, Wednesday 25 August 2004
E&oe__________________________Commando training, ADF operations, terrorism
Senator Robert Hill
Can I just say a few things. I am pleased to have the opportunity today to witness the Commandos training. This particular training uses a watercraft and taking a beach head as we have witnessed. We are very pleased with the way in which the Commandos are growing in capability. Special Forces of course have proven to be critically important in recent years and we believe that that need will to continue. And we are very committed to providing capable Special Forces on both sides of Australia now and this training and the further development of this unit is a step in that direction. We have mentioned before that we are building dedicated training facilities at Holsworthy. We’re pleased that we have now got to the stage where the final designs have been approved and we can get on with construction. It’s taken a little longer, Danna, than we would have liked. But the designs which are now publicly available for people of interest really I think illustrate how useful the training facilities will be and include a mock-up of a wide body aircraft, an urban environment for counter-terrorism training. These sort of facilities we think will be state-of-the-art, better than or as good as anything else in the world. And we believe we have a responsibility to our forces when we ask a lot of them to ensure that we provide them with the best training facilities and the best equipment. So that’s very pleasing. And I thought I’d just take the opportunity today to launch a booklet that has been produced out of Defence which basically records the operations of the ADF over the last few years. It’s been a period of unprecedented operational tempo. The ADF has done extraordinarily well in a whole range of different missions from warfighting to peacekeeping to humanitarian. And we think it’s important that the public has an opportunity to read what these missions are, what their Service personnel are doing and to keep a record of it. And I am pleased that Defence has produced this booklet that will enable that to be done. And we’ll see that it’s located within public places, libraries, institutions and the like so those in the public who would like to read more about what the ADF have been doing will have the opportunity to do so. And I am happy to answer any questions.
Journalist:
How real do you think the threat of a terrorism attack in Australia is?
Senator Hill:
Well we don’t have intelligence on any specific threat, but as you have seen around the world, it can happen anywhere and we simply believe that Australia needs to be prepared. To assist us in our preparation from the ADF point of view we’re spending a lot more on intelligence to try and get a better understanding, particularly the tentacles of Middle East terrorism that have spread into our region and any connections that there might be in Australia. We have spent more money on security of major strategic institutions, we have developed this counter-terrorism capability, as I was saying, now on the east coast of Australia as well as the west coast of Australia, we have developed the capability to address chemical, biological or radiological threats. So we are better prepared, Australia is better prepared now to meet a terrorist threat than it has ever been. And we just believe to do otherwise than put in the investment that we have would be unwise.
Journalist:
Is it justified, the money the Government has spent, when (inaudible).
Senator Hill:
Well absolutely in our view. Our first responsibility is to protect the Australian people and as you’ve seen in the most unlikely places terrorist bombings have occurred, terrorist attacks of various types. You know it’s - unfortunately terrorism is globalised as everything else is globalised these days. And it is no good lamenting afterwards that there should have been extra protection or extra investment. We believe it’s a first priority and we believe that it’s the responsible thing to do.
Journalist:
(Inaudible).
Senator Hill:
Well we think they are the best in the world.
Danna Vale:
We know they are the best in the world.
Senator Hill:
The best guide I think is from their colleagues internationally. And you know coming out of the coalition operations in Afghanistan and in Iraq and elsewhere, all of our coalition colleagues sing the praise of the Australian Special Forces. You know they are very capable, they are well trained, do the job very efficiently and as I said they deserve every support that we can give them and that’s why we are making this investment now.
Journalist:
Any idea when the facility will be completed.
Senator Hill:
I’m not sure. I think 2006 is when we hope to have it fully operational from memory. What I am interested in doing is getting the foundations laid. Getting on with the job. Okay? Thanks very much for coming out.
ENDS