Television Interview, Sunrise

SUBJECT/S: Largest ADF in 25 years; AI

HOST, NATALIE BARR: Thank you, Sam. It's been revealed this morning the number of people joining the Australian Defence Force has risen to its highest point in almost 20 years. More than 8,000 people enlisted over the past year, which is 1,000 more than the year before. The current spike in numbers follows a sustained recruitment crisis. But many commentators think our army still isn't fit for purpose and would struggle if we entered a conflict. Joining us now is Defence Minister Richard Marles. Good morning to you. What's behind this spike in enlistments?

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER, RICHARD MARLES: Well, I mean, this is intentional government policy. We are recruiting in areas where we find people- less ads on TV, for example, more online. We've had some really innovative practices like pop-up recruitment centres which have made a big difference. We're pulling people through recruitment process faster and we're paying people more- we're making the Defence Force a better place to work and particularly in trades where we really need people. So, we now have the full time force at 64,000. That's the highest it's been in a quarter of a century. As you said, more than 8,000 people have joined in the last year. To put this in context, when we came to government, the Defence Force was shrinking in the last year of the Coalition, government actually shrank by 1,400 people. So, this is a massive turnaround. There's more to do for sure, but we're heading in the right direction and we need this given the strategic circumstances we face.

BARR: Yes, it sounds more strategic than just a bunch of big ads, sort of targeting people in different areas. Great news but in the most recent ADF preparedness report, experts say Australia isn't ready for conflict today and we're not investing in tech for a future war. If there was a serious conflict, are we ready?

MARLES: Well, I don't accept that last point in that if you look at autonomous systems, for example, drones and the like, I mean, this is the area where we are spending more than we ever have. It was really, the biggest change in the National Defence Strategy that we announced in April. So, we are very much modernising the Defence Force and really, I think relative to other defence forces, we're at the cutting edge of that. And we are very much growing our readiness, our preparedness and the technology within our defence force, as well as the people within our defence force. So, we now have a strategic direction, we're meeting that. And we've got record investment in the defence force is a key part of it, and that includes within our people. You know, what we've seen under our government is the biggest peacetime increase in defence spending in our nation's history. And all of that forms part of the picture of what we're doing to increase our defence capability.

BARR: Okay, let's talk AI. Everyone's talking about this. The founders of the world's biggest AI companies have sounded the alarm, though, saying we need to slow down development, otherwise the future of humanity could be at risk. You've just met with the boss of Open AI, Sam Altman in America. What are we doing to protect our future? Because a lot of these guys seem to be quite worried.

MARLES: Well, firstly, this is an incredible technology and it offers enormous opportunities for humanity as well. And I did meet with Sam Altman at OpenAI, Dario Modi at Anthropic, as well as the other major tech companies in San Francisco. Look, to be honest, they are saying we need to move down this path with care gives me a sense of comfort. Like any breakthrough technology, there are huge opportunities, but there are risks. And I think they are speaking to that. But they're also, they're not stopping in their tracks. I mean, Dario Modi said it will still feel like we are moving very quickly in terms of the pace of development that they are talking about. I mean, from an Australian perspective, this offers a huge opportunity to be a part of this, actually a historic economic opportunity, but also in terms of our national security and our sovereignty. But we need to be doing it in a way which is very much in the interests of our country, which is, for example, protecting copyright, news organisations, creatives and the like. And the Prime Minister made that really clear back in July, that we need to be engaging with this technology- it is the future, but doing it on terms which is very much in the Australian interest, so that this is a technology which works for people and not the other way around.

BARR: Ok, Richard Marles, thank you for your time.

MARLES: Thanks, Nat.

ENDS

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