Television Interview, Sky News

SUBJECTS: Recruitment in the Australian Defence Force.

PETER STEFANOVIC, HOST: Well, the Government's claiming a win this morning when it comes to recruitment for the Australian Defence Force. It says recruitment and retention levels are at the highest level they've been in 15 years, but it's still short of its annual targets. Joining us live now, Veterans' Affairs Minister Matt Keogh. Minister, good to see you this morning. So, let's start off with the jump. What's behind it?

MATT KEOGH, MINISTER FOR DEFENCE PERSONNEL: It's great to be with you, Peter. Well, what's behind it is that when we came into Government, we saw basically our Defence Force recruiting numbers going out backwards. Our Defence Force was shrinking, and that was a huge problem given the circumstances that we face. And we know that our people are our most important capability. So, we've been getting around that, working hard to turn that around, and we've now seen our recruitment numbers increase. We've just had over 7,000 people join in the last year. That's the largest enlistment in 15 years. But we've also seen our separation rates fall. So, that's gone from where it was over 11, nearly 12 per cent now to being under 8 per cent. That's a significant decrease. It's the lowest it's been in a very long time. And that means that we're growing our Defence Force. We've grown the Defence Force by over 1,000 people in just the last year, whereas what we saw under the Opposition, the decade that they were in government, they only grew the Defence Force by a couple of thousand over that entire time.

STEFANOVIC: Okay, but Your goal was 8,105. Am I right?

MINISTER KEOGH: So, yeah, we increase our recruitment targets every year and we've increased the way in which we've attained that. So, we've met over 70 per cent of that target, which is an increase on the low 60s from the year before. And that was off a lower target. But most importantly, in terms of the total number of people that we needed to have in the defence force this year, we’re a couple of hundred, 300 people over that target. So, we've got the number of people we need right now, and we're seeing that growth trajectory as well as we head towards 69,000 in the early 2030s.

STEFANOVIC: Yeah, but looking at this target here, the ambition was 8,105, which you're not quite there. Was it too ambitious? Was it too big a target?

MINISTER KEOGH: We're not backwards about being ambitious, but importantly, we met more of that higher target this year, but than we did last year on a lower target. So, we're seeing the trajectory heading in the right direction. We've got the for the first time in a long time, we've actually got more than the number of people in defence than we're actually targeting on having, because not only have we increased that recruitment number, but we're keeping more. We're keeping more people in Defence longer. So, good outcome on both.

STEFANOVIC. So, why do you think that is? I mean, getting into the nuts and bolts of it here. Is it better campaigning? Is it better advertising? Is it vocation?

MINISTER KEOGH: Yeah, we've been doing a lot of work, Pete, across. Yeah, look, obviously it's a vocation for people who are committed to service, want to see how they can help our nation, and that's an incredibly important part of who signs up to join our Defence Force. But we've been on the recruitment end making sure that we are not just advertising more broadly, but that we're targeting better as well, making sure that we're using all the different areas of social media to target that key group between 18 and 24, as well as hitting those key influences like parents and teachers. with the outdoor advertising, television advertising, we're now advertising around computer games for the first time. We're using TikTok, which hadn't been used before. We've got to make sure that we get that ADF careers presence and the fact that it's not just the traditional roles that people might think about. There's over 300 different types of roles, getting that in front of people so they can see the opportunity that a career in our Australian Defence Force [indistinct].

STEFANOVIC. So, that's good that it's on the way up anyway. But there was much made last year about trying to enlist Kiwis to help boost our army numbers. How's that going?

MINISTER KEOGH: So, look, that's going well. We've seen a huge amount of interest from Kiwis in Australia and from the beginning of this year, we also brought on UK, Canada and US Permanent Residents in Australia as well. So, we've already had a few people that are enlisted, but we've got about 70 in that pre-enlistment phase that are just waiting to start a course and then they'll be enlisted shortly. So, that's a great outcome. And we've got around 500 or so that are working their way through that application process now. So, obviously it doesn't fill all of our needs, but it's good to have that additional ability to bring on those permanent residents from our Five Eyes partners.

STEFANOVIC: Well, I caught a report this morning that mentioned just three had signed on from New Zealand. Is that those who - is that correct?

MINISTER KEOGH: Three have been enlisted and are in courses but we've got another 70 that are about to start.

STEFANOVIC: Right, OK. So, I mean, three. I'd look at that and go, ooh, ok, that's not working. But is that just a first step for things, is it?

MINISTER KEOGH: Well, it's the first steps. And also, as you would appreciate, we are actually prioritising Australians, Australian citizens that are joining the Defence Force as well. And that's how we've got to that record number, the highest number in 15 years.

STEFANOVIC: Yeah, I mean, I remember when this came out last year and I thought, well, why would Kiwis fight for us rather than join, you know, New Zealand Defence Forces? But your argument is that -

MINISTER KEOGH: Well, and can I say on that? Yeah, it's important. We're talking about people that are already permanently residents in Australia, so they've already decided to reside here. We're providing that, making it easier for them to enlist as a permanent resident and they then take out citizenship as an Australian as well. That’s an important part of the process.

STEFANOVIC: But like you said, I mean, if there's only three now and there's more, you know, down the pike that are going to join up, that's enough for you to keep that policy in place.

MINISTER KEOGH: It's certainly showing. We've had really positive response in terms of inquiries, applications. As I said, we've had a few come through that are already enlisted, but importantly, we've got about 70 that are in that pre enlistment, about to enlist and start their courses phase. So, we're getting good numbers in addition to, importantly those over 7,000 Australian citizens that have enlisted in the last year. And that's our biggest recruitment in ADF.

STEFANOVIC: So, getting 80,000 by 2040. Do you feel confident about that?

MINISTER KEOGH: So, the target we're focused on is that 69,000 by the early 2030s. And definitely encouraged by the fact that we are now seeing an increase in applications, we're seeing an increase in the number of people that are enlisting, we're seeing a reduction in our separation rates. Things are now heading in the right direction. They certainly weren't when we came into Government. Having said that, we know there's more to do and we're continuing to focus on where we can get more growth in the Defence Force going forward as well. 

PETER STEFANOVIC: All right, good. Matt Keogh, appreciate it. Thank you.

ENDS