Television Interview, Sky Afternoon

SUBJECTS: RAAF Base Townsville Investment, Apache helicopters, Defence Spending

TOM CONNELL [HOST]: Well, Labor is investing $700 million upgrade infrastructure at the RAAF Base in Townsville. It will support the introduction of Apache helicopters. Joining me live now, Assistant Defence Minister Peter Khalil. You’re allowed to just get all techie on this first question: why are these helicopters so good? 

PETER KHALIL [ASSISTANT MINISTER]: G’day, Tom. I’m here in sunny Townsville, as you can see behind me. 700 million, as you said, into RAAF Base Townsville. That’s going to build new hangars, all the infrastructure, working accommodation, training and command facilities for the aviation army units as well as a simulation hall for the new Apaches and a multistorey car park for the additional personnel as well. It’s about $375 million into the north Queensland economy and the creation of about 275 jobs here in Townsville at the peak of construction. 

But when the Apaches do come online, Tom, there’ll be another 150 jobs that are created here in Townsville and 50 in Brisbane and 20 in Oakey, which is a base further south, to support the Apaches. They are a great bit of kit. They’re going to be co-located now with the Chinook helicopters. And so that sustainment, the engineering support, the maintenance, the efficiencies that will be drawn from that and the upgrades on the base here at Townsville are really important to make our northern basis fit for purpose. And the Albanese government is delivering by investing in the infrastructure that’s needed for our defence sustainment, our bases and facilities. 

CONNELL: Alright. So there been a flurry of recent Defence announcements and some big figures there. I’m just trying to clarify, though, all these announcements and all this spending, is Labor still committed to 2.4 per cent as a per cent of GDP spending by 2033? 

KHALIL: Well, as you’d know very well, Tom, both the Prime Minister and Deputy PM have not talked about our spending as a basis of percentage of GDP, but what we have discussed is that we decide on our defence spending based on our assessment of capability needs. And we have done that. And you saw a massive announcement on the weekend at the Henderson shipyards, the facilities in Western Australia, $12 billion, the creation of 10,000 jobs over coming decades into the local community and so much industry involvement in that to make them the sort of premier shipyards to build our – and maintenance of our Virginia-class submarines that will be coming in a couple of years. 

These are big investments in defence because they’re based on our assessment about the need for infrastructure, the need for acquisition of kit. I mean, the other one was the announcement around the $1.7 billion for the Ghost Shark, the underwater unmanned vehicles. So we are actually delivering on defence spending. The largest defence spending in peace time. We’ve added $70 billion to the next decade additional defence spending, and that is the largest defence spending increase since World War II. 

CONNELL: Okay. And I know there’s talk about let’s focus on projects and capability versus spending. But Richard Marles said at the National Press Club in 2024 that it would hit 2.4 per cent. What’s changed? 

KHALIL: Well, I’ll tell you what’s – what we’re doing. We are looking at through our IIP and our National Defence Strategy what the capability needs are, what do we need to upgrade so far as our bases and facilities, our capability and assets and acquisition of kit. It is about making sure that our facilities are fit for purpose for the challenges that we face. That’s why we’re putting so much into upgrades of the northern bases across Australia during these very challenging strategic times and making sure we get the kit for our men and women in uniform so that they can do their jobs protecting Australia’s national interests and defending our nation. And that’s what we’ve gone about doing. You know, we had a Coalition in power for nine years – 

CONNELL: But we still had the Defence Minister say in this speech – and Press Club speeches, you know, that’s the other hat I wear, people take a bit of time over them, it’s not just something you say off the cuff. It was there and now it’s not. So what’s changed? 

KHALIL: Well, you can focus on percentages of GDP and so on. There are different ways to calculate this, as you know. The US, for example, and NATO countries include in their percentage calculation on defence spending infrastructure spending, they include intelligence, spending on intelligence that supports – 

CONNELL: But Richard Marles was never doing that, was he? 

KHALIL: No, we haven’t done that in the past. But it depends how you calculate it. But the most important thing – the most important thing – is not to get fixated on the calculation as a percentage; it is to look at what we are actually spending, committing to and investing. You know, I was standing there today with the work going on behind me to build the infrastructure so that we can have the Apache helicopters at RAAF Base Townsville. I saw the brigade headquarters where it’s going to be stationed there for the 16^th Aviation Brigade that’s relocating down to Townsville. These are real, tangible outcomes that we are delivering. We don’t just talk about it; we’ve gone about delivering this defence spending and this investment in our ADF, not just talk about it. I mean, the previous mob promised $42 billion in commitments with zero dollars behind them. It was all just on paper, whereas we’re doing it actually in real outcomes on the bases and with the equipment that our men and women are getting. 

CONNELL: You’re a politician, so you’re used to, you know, having to perhaps be in situations where you’re not that popular – I mean, journalists maybe on the same wave – how do you feel with the whole nation barracking against Collingwood on Saturday afternoon? 

KHALIL: Well, I don’t know if it’s the whole nation, Tom. I know you’re a Brisbane supporter. And, look, it’s going to be a great game. I hope the best team wins. It’s going to be a cracker of a game. I think pretty much half the nation barracks for Collingwood anyway, so if you want to say the other half are barracking against us, fair enough. But you know what – 

CONNELL: There’s another dodgy figure. 

KHALIL: The love they Cowboys up here in Townsville. I tried to talk to people about the AFL prelim and no-one knew what I was talking about. It was all about Thurston and the Cowboys. 

CONNELL: Look, you’ll find a few Lions supporters. You’ve got to try a bit harder. Peter Khalil, thank you. Talk again soon. 

KHALIL: Thanks for having us, Tom. Cheers.

ENDS