Speech at the Defence Australia Summit, Adelaide

Australia has not been a direct participant in the conflict in the Middle East and we were not a party to its commencement. But that conflict is most definitely impacting Australia, as it is our region, as it is the world. And we very much support the strategic intent of denying Iran a deployable nuclear weapon. But this conflict also brings home fundamental lessons about our strategic landscape. 

Firstly, it is a demonstration of the volatile world in which we live. It is also a demonstration of how our world is so interconnected. We have a war in Eastern Europe, the lessons from which will be learnt and applied in the Indo-Pacific. And we now have the conflict in the Middle East, which is affecting global fuel supply chains, which is absolutely impacting the price of petrol here in Australia, as it is in Japan, as it is in North America, as it is in Europe, as it is everywhere. 

The world is deeply interconnected. And in that sense, we are also seeing the significance of sea lines of communication and their disruption. That actually is Australia's most consequential strategic risk. This was identified in the Defence Strategic Review in 2023. It is the idea of a future adversary seeking to coerce our country through disrupting those sea lanes. And the Defence Strategic Review in 2023 also articulated the idea that it is hard to conceive of the defence of Australia without also thinking about the security of the region in which we live; the Northeast Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific. And so it is core business for Australia that we are making our contribution to the collective peace and security of those regions and all of that describes a geography to our national security, which lies well beyond our coastline, even our immediate waters. 

In turn that means that we have to be building a defence force which can get out there, which can engage in impactful projection. That is our focus. A highly capable long-range submarine; a much more lethal surface fleet, which we can see being built around us in this shed right now; longer range strike missiles; a greater cyber capability; a more amphibious army; an air force which can go further, being projected from more capable bases in our north. And all of that was described as our strategic direction in the Defence Strategic Review, and has now been affirmed in the National Defence Strategy 2024 and again in the last month, as we have released the National Defence Strategy 2026 and its accompanying refresh of the Integrated Investment Program.

I want to say something about that process, because prior to establishing this two yearly drum beat of updated strategic reviews, we were really existing in terms of doing our strategy by having intermittent, haphazard defence white papers when any government or defence minister felt the urge. And that was really the only occasion on which there would be an investment or an increase in defence spending. And in turn, what it had actually meant through governments of both persuasions was that the fundamental strategic posture of our country was operating off a setting that was really established in the 1987 Defence White Paper. And these are my words, but they are essentially three concentric circles of a defence force that would defend the continent, that would be a significant player in our region, that would be a good global citizen, or allow Australia to be good global citizen. 

But the complexity and the threat of our present strategic circumstances has demanded that we have a much more focused strategic posture to meet this moment. That what was identified and has been articulated in the Defence Strategic Review are now affirmed on two additional occasions. That's really important, because it gives us a sense of consistency, and you cannot do that without consistent ministerial leadership. 

That's also why, since coming to government, the three defence ministers; myself, the Minister for Defence Industry and Defence Personnel have all been in the one job for that period of time, which has allowed us to move down that path with certainty. It's not what was happening before we came to government. 

Under the former Coalition, we had six or seven different defence ministers over the course of nine years. In fact, over the last four, we've had another three shadow defence ministers. And it's really an issue that needs to be resolved, because you cannot move forward, you cannot give strategic direction to what we're trying to do in this really challenging time without that consistency. 

There is a really big difference between the two political parties on this. If you go back over the last 44 years – I choose that time frame because over that period of time, both Labor and Liberal have essentially governed for the same number of years federally – there have been 12 Liberal defence ministers, only one of whom served more than three years. There have been seven Labor defence ministers, four of whom have served more than three years. And that consistency has enabled us to tackle really critical issues around the public administration of defence. 

An issue which has been very difficult for governments of both persuasions has been project management – delivering projects on time, on budget. There is, in fact a lack of project management experience in the public service in Canberra and the establishment of the Defence Delivery Agency, which will take its first embryonic step on the first of July this year, is absolutely about trying to rebuild a project delivery capability within the public administration of Defence. It's a major change that can't be done without consistent leadership. 

We look at the Defence estate, Defence is the largest owner of property in the country and for decades we have been spending not hundreds of thousands, but hundreds of millions of dollars maintaining properties that we don't use, and obviously we can't afford to keep doing that. But again, you don't reform any of that without strategic leadership. 

And you can look at submarines, which again is a prime example. Under the former government we had one minister going after a deal with Japan, another going after a deal with France, finally settling at the end of their time in office on a deal with America and Britain. But in the course of that time we really lost a decade when we could least afford it. Now we have stuck to AUKUS, this program of delivering our future nuclear‑powered submarines for our country, in the face of a lot of scepticism, alternatives being offered, but we are sticking the course because that's what's required. 

And today we are making another announcement along that way, that Lockheed Martin Australia will be the systems integrator for the Virginia class submarines as they operate from Australia. And that's really important in terms of Lockheed Martin's operations in WA, but Lockheed Martin have a very significant presence here in South Australia as well, both at Mawson Lakes and Port Wakefield. 

But perhaps the most significant area where consistent leadership is so important is in relation to defence spending, which is the issue that everyone talks about. Given the dial we need to move, you can't do it in one go. Since coming to office, we have significantly increased defence expenditure on four separate occasions: Budget 23, Budget 24, MYEFO 25, and Budget 26. And as a result, today there is $117 billion more in the 10 year planning schedules as a result of those decisions. Now under the former government, we saw one attempt to put money into the defence budget. $30 billion gets taken in, a couple of years later another minister takes $20 billion out. The net result was $10 billion over the planning decade contributed in nine years. It is a massive difference. 

But one of the things that's really struck me when I think about that $117 billion is just how much of it is being given effect to in this state. The contribution that South Australia specifically is making to building the capability of our country is profound. 

Right here at Osborne, we were going around today with Craig Lockhart talking about what will be the size of this workplace when it's fully up and running, and the answer to that is about 10,000 people ongoing – building our most capable anti-submarine warfare frigates, the Hunter class; building our future nuclear-powered submarines; ensuring that our existing submarine capability of the Collins is extended through until when our nuclear submarines come into operation; upgrading our Air Warfare Destroyers. This place will have a multi‑generational effect on this town. 

Coming from Geelong, I know the cultural impact that Ford has had in terms of building cars in our city, and that's felt here in Adelaide as well when you think about the impact of Holden or Chrysler or Mitsubishi. But here at Osborne, it is all of that and more. I mean, this place will have grandparents, parents, and grandkids working here. And it will absolutely shape the character of Adelaide as it builds capability for our country. 

We are making missiles again in Australia. We are doing that at Port Wakefield. And it's not just defence industry. 

We've just been at RAAF Base Edinburgh which is one of the major defence bases in our country. It operates our fleet of P-8s and our Tritons, and the Deep Maintenance Facility that we opened today is going to have a profound impact. But it's also the home of our first long‑range fires regiment, and with the announcement in the last couple of weeks of the purchase of the next round of HIMARS units and Precision Strike Missiles it will be the home of our second long-range fires regiment, so that Edinburgh really is the home of our long‑range missile strike capability. And we should not forget Woomera, which is the biggest land-based missile testing facility on the planet. And it's incredibly important for Australia, but increasingly important for our partners and our allies. 

So actually, my main message today is to say thank you. 

Firstly, to say thank you to the Premier and through him the South Australian Government. We could not wish for a better partner in terms of building defence capability in our nation through this state and we are enormously grateful to you, Premier, for all the assistance and partnership you provide. 

Can I also really thank Gemma and the Adelaide Advertiser. We need to be talking about this. It's really important that we raise the profile of this issue and the Adelaide Advertiser, not just in South Australia, but nationally, has played a leadership role in making sure that this story is told and we actually owe you a debt of gratitude, Gemma, and we very much appreciate that. 

But most significantly, I really want to thank the people of South Australia. This is, of course, a great opportunity for them, but the people of South Australia are making an enormous contribution to the building of the capability of our Defence Force, which is there to keep every Australian safe. Thank you very much.