Television Interview, ABC News Breakfast

SUBJECTS: HMAS Leeuwin incident, ADF culture, Defence reforms.

JAMES GLENDAY: Now, an Australian Defence Force member has been identified as a person of interest after a recording device was found in the women's bathroom of a Navy ship. The device was discovered on Sunday on HMAS Leeuwin while it was docked in Cairns. We're joined now by the Defence Industry Minister, Pat Conroy. Pat, welcome back to our program.

MINISTER FOR DEFENCE INDUSTRY PAT CONROY: Thanks for having me.

JAMES GLENDAY: James, is just one person thought to be responsible for this?

MINISTER CONROY: Well, I can confirm that there is one person, one ADF person, assisting military police with their inquiries. We have to be very careful. There is a live investigation going on right now, so we're constrained with the details, but there is one person assisting in this investigation into what is an appalling incident, disgraceful and absolutely reprehensible incident. That is completely unacceptable.

JAMES GLENDAY: Do you know yet how long the camera was there or if any of the vision captured by the camera was shared or even posted online?

MINISTER CONROY: Well, again, that goes to a live military police investigation, and I'm not going to compromise that investigation by disclosing those sorts of details. Obviously, Chief of Navy Admiral Buckley has quite rightly commissioned an urgent investigation of all other naval vessels to make sure that there are no other recording devices on board those vessels. But this is completely unacceptable. We need to let the military police investigation run its course. They're working with civilian authorities as well, which is appropriate. And obviously we need to let that process run its course.

JAMES GLENDAY: Sure. I mean, can you just make it crystal clear for us, though, you don't think this is espionage-related, right, you think this is misconduct?

MINISTER CONROY: Well, again, I have to be very careful about it. But we've got no indications that it is espionage at this stage.

JAMES GLENDAY: I mean, as you say, there's going to be this broad sweep of naval ships for cameras. Are you concerned this is indicative of a broader cultural problem within the Australian military? This is not the first time a camera is actually being found in a space operated by the military. Are women serving at the moment safe?

MINISTER CONROY: We've been very open that the culture of the ADF has to change. It is changing, it is improving, but these incidents are still occurring, and they're completely unacceptable. We're committed, as is the senior leadership of the Australian Defence Force, to changing the culture so that everyone who joins the ADF is respected and can serve their nation with respect and dignity. One in five serving personnel are now women. That's great news, and we want to see that number increase. But the ADF has to change its culture to allow that to happen.

JAMES GLENDAY: Jacqui Lambie, the Independent Senator, she revealed this incident in Parliament. She was on our show yesterday talking about some of the problems in culture that she sees within the military. One idea she has is for an independent body to investigate this. Does this need to be handled at arm's length, do you think? Is the military in Australia capable of marking its own homework and investigating itself?

MINISTER CONROY: Well, we've got an inquiry right now, an independent inquiry led by Senator, former Senator, Natasha Stott Despoja into military sexual violence. And that was a really important initiative, and we’ll obviously pay very close attention to the recommendations that come out of that inquiry. But I've got enormous respect for Senator Lambie. She's passionate about veterans and serving ADF personnel's welfare, and we're very committed to working with her through the details of her Private Member’s Bill that goes to this issue. And we're in complete alignment about the intent of the Bill, which is to make sure that the Australian Defence Force is a safe working environment for all Defence Force personnel. And we're working very closely with Jacqui on this issue, and I want to thank her on behalf of the nation and the Parliament for her passionate commitment to this issue.

JAMES GLENDAY: I just want to go to something else she said then, before we moved on, she said that this is not kind of really the first. She alluded to the fact there might be other incidents like this. Are any other incidents under investigation currently?

MINISTER CONROY: Not that I'm aware of. I'm not the Defence Personnel Minister, I'm the Defence Industry Minister. I can say that so far this is…this investigation relates to a single recording device found on one particular naval vessel. And we're obviously doing a sweep of all other naval vessels to make sure that this appalling behaviour isn't occurring anywhere else.

JAMES GLENDAY: Ok, let's go to your direct portfolio then, Defence industry. The ABC has a story showing that defence officials behind a missile program racked up about $15.5 million in financial and procurement blunders. I mean, that's a small amount of cash in terms of the whole defence spend, but it's still big by anyone's view. How did this happen?

MINISTER CONROY: Let's be very clear, these were not defence officials. These were contractors. There's no excuse for what occurred. In fact, this is further justification for the very extensive reform to the defence organisation that we're undertaking right now. What happened was, under the former Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Government, they gutted the Department of Defence. They outsourced significant roles into the private sector and ended the Department of Defence being a project management organisation and brought in thousands of contractors and consultants, some who are really important but others who are doing jobs that should be done by public servants, we're committed to changing that. We're standing up the Defence Delivery Agency and building the premier project management organisation in the Commonwealth so that we don't have to rely on contractors who, in this instance, acted inappropriately. And that incident was discovered by a subsequent project management team who then reported it.

JAMES GLENDAY: You've been in government for four years now, I mean, are you confident that on these huge spends, these huge military projects, these military acquisition projects, that taxpayer money is not being wasted now?

MINISTER CONROY: I'm confident that we're using taxpayers’ money as efficiently as possible, but we're committed to doing better, and that's why we're reforming Defence. I'm not pretending that it's perfect. In fact, I'm saying it's not perfect, and we're working very hard to reform it. That's why we've undertaken the most significant reforms to the Defence organisation in 50 years to ensure that taxpayers get better bang for buck and that the Australian Defence Force gets the equipment it needs. This incident was unacceptable. It relates to contractors brought in by the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Government in a flawed system. And we're fixing it right now. We're not waiting for reviews, we're fixing it right now. We've stood up the Defence Delivery Group that will then be spun out of the Department of Defence into the Defence Delivery Agency on 1st July next year, headed by the National Armaments Director, who will drive commercial expertise so the incidents like this don't occur again.

JAMES GLENDAY: Just finally, Pat, Donald Trump says a US military firing squad execution will not be live-streamed. I imagine you're going to welcome that decision. Does the fact this was even a discussion in America risk damaging the way that Australians perceive our military Alliance, our close Alliance with the United States?

MINISTER CONROY: Look, I think that's a pretty long bow to draw, James. I'm very relieved that this execution will not be live streamed. I think, like most Australians, I believe there's no place for the depictions of these sorts of incidents on the Internet. Once it's out there, it's very hard for it to be brought back in. And it's something I don't want any Australian to see, quite frankly.

JAMES GLENDAY: So, you don't believe some of the more erratic ramblings of the Trump administration and friends damages Australia's relationship with America?

MINISTER CONROY: The Alliance with the United States is the bedrock of our national security. It's as critical as our investment in our own capability for the ADF. The Alliance is in a very strong position, and we're committed to supporting it as is the US, and the Alliance is supported, no matter who is in the White House and no matter who is the Government of Australia, because it's in both our national interests. And I think if you ask most Australians, they see the essential value of it, just as they see the essential value in our record investment in our own defence capabilities to make sure that we've got the national sovereignty and the self-reliance and independence to defend our country by ourselves as well.

JAMES GLENDAY: Pat Conroy, we always appreciate your time. Thanks for joining our show.

MINISTER CONROY: Thanks James. Have a good morning.

ENDS