Keynote address at 2025 ASPI Defence Conference: Preparedness and Resilience

I begin by acknowledging the Ngunnawal people as traditional custodians of the ACT and recognise any other people or families with connection to the lands of the ACT and region. 

As the Minister for Defence Industry, I pay my respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women who have served our nation in the past and continue to do so today.

Distinguished Guests,

I am delighted to acknowledge the presence of the Honourable Dr Billy Joseph MP, Minister for Defence, Papua New Guinea.

Our future in Australia is tied to the stability, security and prosperity of our neighbours, and I’m looking forward to our panel discussion later this morning.

I’d like to thank our host, Gai Brodtmann, Chair of the ASPI Council, and the team for inviting me to speak today.

INTRODUCTION

Friends All, 

It is with a deep sense of gratitude to the Australian people, and great optimism, that I return to the ASPI annual conference as the Minister for Defence Industry and Minister for Pacific Island Affairs.

At a time of great change in the world, we have restored much needed order and continuity of ministerial leadership in Defence.

Richard Marles has already been Defence Minister for longer than any of his six predecessors under the former Coalition Government, and by the end of this term would be the longest Defence Minister since Sir James Killen in the Fraser Government.

The same is true for me in my portfolio as Minister for Defence Industry, and by the end of this term I hope to be the longest serving occupant of my role since the 1950s.

I am also fortunate to have retained my role as Minister for Pacific Island Affairs, and I’m honoured to now be Australia’s longest-ever serving Minister in that portfolio. Supporting a strong region around us is at the heart of our national interest.

We have retained the experience and energy of Matt Keogh as Minister for Defence Personnel and Veterans’ Affairs and Luke Gosling as Special Envoy. 

And our team has been made even stronger by Peter Khalil joining us as Assistant Minister for Defence.

When you combine that continuity with a strong mandate from the Australian people to get on with the job, we’re in a good position to continue to accelerate the delivery of the capabilities our Defence Force needs to keep Australians safe.

That’s important, because Australia faces significant challenges in its strategic environment.

The achievements of the past three years provide a strong platform from which to ramp up our efforts.

Because while we are proud of the order we have restored to the Defence portfolio, I acknowledge there's a sense of frustration about untapped potential, and that we can be doing more and moving faster.

DEFENCE SPENDING

There’s a saying many of you would be familiar with – attributed to a former Defence Secretary – that “strategy without resources is just creative writing.”

Through the 2023 Defence Strategic Review process we learned there were $42 billion in commitments announced by the former Government and added to the Defence Integrated Investment Program (IIP) with no funding attached.

This was strategy without resources. The definition of ‘creative writing’.

It would be remiss of me if I did not point out that ASPI’s Cost of Defence 2022 report when we came to government noted that “Capability continues to be delivered across all domains. There’s no doubt the ADF is getting better.”

All the while there were at least 28 projects running a combined 97 years late. 

Through the Defence Strategic Review and National Defence Strategy, our Government did the heavy lifting to undertake the rigorous analysis of our strategic circumstances required to inform our investments in defence capabilities. 

In rebuilding the IIP to align with our strategic circumstances, we made the tough decisions that were shirked by our predecessors. We are now shifting the ADF from a balanced force to an integrated, focused one.

And we are increasing Defence spending by $57.6 billion over the decade compared to the trajectory we inherited just 3 years ago. 

This is the largest increase in defence spending since the Second World War, with $10.6 billion of that increase over the next four years.

Despite what the ASPI Cost of Defence report claims, this is generational investment within the forward estimates.

This is one of a number of errors contained in the report. I won’t go through them all now – but for example, the report argues there is no incentive or guidance for industry to invest in GWEO.

The reality is we’ve released a detailed enterprise plan and allocated $500 million to grow the Australian SME supply chain for GWEO.

The report argues that land and air capabilities are being sacrificed for maritime, while at the same time acknowledging there will be a 30% increase in funding for Air Force capabilities over the forward estimates. 

So, when I read in the same publication that the ADF was “getting better” three years ago, but is now at risk of being hollowed out, it is incumbent on the Government to call this out.

Or when the 2023 ASPI Cost of Defence report covering the first Labor Defence Budget radically and illogically changes the definition of defence funding:

These changes include excluding ASD funding from total defence resourcing and removing funding for the Department of Defence to compensate for falls in the Australian dollar. 

Only through these two curious adjustments could the ASPI Cost of Defence report falsely conclude that Labor was funding Defence at a lower level than the previous Coalition Government. 

We want a healthy public debate in this space, but contributions to that debate need to be factual and balanced. 

You are entitled to you own views, but not your own facts.

The fact is that the Government is providing Defence with the resources it needs to deliver the National Defence Strategy, which was not the case when we came to office.

As the Prime Minister has said, we will invest in the capabilities we need. 

We are open to having a conversation about increasing defence spending.

But unlike the Coalition, which during the election campaign promised to increase spending without a skerrick of detail, we will invest in the defence of this nation and safety of Australians with care and diligence, in a way that is best for Australians. 

That’s why it’s important to say claims of a “business as usual” approach that is “hollowing out” the ADF just don’t stack up.

ACCELERATING CAPABILITY ACQUISITIONS FOR THE NEAR TERM

Since coming to office, the Government has significantly sped up major defence capability acquisitions.

We have brought forward initial delivery dates for priority projects and shortened their overall time to completion.

This includes our plan to deliver a larger and more lethal surface combatant fleet for the Royal Australian Navy, more than doubling the size of the surface combatant fleet compared to the former Government’s plan.

And again – this brings me to a comment piece in The Australian last week criticising the Government with the false claim that we will not get our first frigates until “well into the 2030s”. 

This is just plain wrong. 

The first of our new general-purpose frigates will be delivered by 2029 and in the water by 2030 – four years earlier than the first new warship planned by the former Government.

We are on track to deliver four new frigates by 2034 compared to the one under the previous government’s plan.

Decisions around capability delivery under AUKUS will deliver conventionally-armed nuclear-powered submarines a decade earlier than the former Government’s plan, from 2032.

Delivery of new Infantry Fighting Vehicles for the Army has been accelerated, with the first vehicle now being delivered in 2027, compared to 2029.

And all 129 of these Redbacks will be delivered by the time the first vehicle would have been delivered under the previous plan.

While there is always more to be done, I am proud of what we have achieved so far to accelerate the delivery of the capabilities the ADF needs in the near term, as well as in the future.

GWEO

In terms of capability and sustainment, we have increased investment and re-focused investment, including more than $330 billion over 10 years through the Integrated Investment Program.

Nowhere is this more visible than in the acquisition and production of guided weapons and explosive ordnance.

A number of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) launcher vehicles, have already been delivered, ahead of schedule.

It was fantastic to read the comments by the Commander 10th Brigade who said that during his 30 years’ service, he had never personally seen a capability roll-out this quickly... 

HIMARS allows the Army to strike both land and maritime targets at ranges beyond 500km. 

This year, HIMARS-compatible GMLRS missiles will begin to be manufactured in Australia. 

The accelerated acquisition of HIMARS, the growth of 10^th Brigade in both size and capacity, and the commencement of missile manufacturing are real-life illustrations of the importance of the National Defence Strategy and the supporting strategies and plans that will help deliver it. 

The National Defence Strategy focuses Defence on doing first, what matters most. 

It ensures that workforce growth and capability acquisition march together hand in hand on an accelerated drumbeat. 

And it demonstrates the critical importance of Defence industry.

We are committed to a defence future made in Australia because that will make the nation more prepared and more resilient. 

We unveiled our blueprint to deliver on this ambition last year in the Australian Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) Plan.

The Government has contracted Kongsberg Defence Australia to build Australia’s first guided weapons production facility at Williamtown near Newcastle…

which will begin to manufacture Naval Strike Missiles by 2027.

This factory is already under construction. I know. I’ve been there.

What is critical is that we are getting these capabilities into the hands of the ADF to use and test because that is fundamental to deterring any actions that could lead to conflict. 

I note, again, a false claim in recent days in a comment piece that the Albanese Government has done nothing to improve our long-range strike. This could not be further from the truth.

In the past three years we’ve acquired and fired Naval Strike Missile, Standard Missile 6 and Tomahawk missiles – years ahead of what was previously planned. 

The Tomahawk is a long-range, land-attack cruise missile with a range of more than 2,500 kilometres.

Australia will be only the third nation to have them, after the United States and the United Kingdom.

They will increase our Navy’s maximum weapon range more than ten-fold.

From next year, through to 2030, our focus will be on manufacturing and qualifying missiles delivered from our newly built factories. 

This will include manufacturing select weapon sub-sections and components – such as rocket motors and warheads – to improve supply chain resilience. 

We will also look at uplifting a broader range of related technologies to position Australia to develop, manufacture and sustain future weapons.

MOVING FORWARD

There are some big decisions coming up in the second half of this year.

Including the general-purpose frigates under Sea 3000, the second regiment of long-range fires and the next steps for the MQ-28 Ghost Bat.

We’ve also got some huge lines of effort to deliver. 

Having selected the design for Landing Craft Heavy, my focus will be getting the process right for establishment of a littoral fleet which is expected to create 1,100 direct jobs and more than 2,000 indirect jobs under the Government’s plan for continuous shipbuilding in Western Australia. 

And we're thinking hard about the next iteration of the Defence Industry Development Strategy, due to be released in 2026 in conjunction with the next National Defence Strategy and Integrated Investment Program.

I’m enormously excited and energised by the opportunities and challenges ahead, and I thank you very much for the opportunity to discuss them with you today.