Robert, Stuart, MP

Mr ROBERT (Fadden—Assistant Minister for Defence) (09:24): Well, this is rich, isn't it? This is extraordinarily rich. The SPEAKER: I remind those on my left that the same rules apply with regard to behaviour being disorderly as applies during question time. We will have some silence while we hear the speakers. Mr ROBERT: If there was ever a shiny example of a whitewashed tomb and hypocrisy, it is this. Not content with handing over to our government a situation where $16 billion was ripped out of Defence, the Labor Party had a revolving door of three Defence ministers. The first one Labor took into power was described as an electrician in a suit. Not content with taking levels of Defence funding as a proportion of GDP to levels not seen since 1938, not content with reducing project-spending capability—the Labor Party impacted 46 per cent of all projects through their cuts—and not content with having 14 ministerial reshuffles over their six moribund years in parliament, the Labor Party comes in this morning to cry foul. Seriously, are you kidding the nation? The legacy that Labor left when it comes to defence should have their heads hanging in shame. A 2009 white paper went completely and utterly unfunded. Capability was thrown to the winds. At the height of what the Labor Party was doing in Defence, capability spending as a proportion of the total budget was a mere 18 per cent. That is absolutely and utterly appalling. This is the party that decided to cut counter-IED phase 2 funding whilst we were doing combat operations in Afghanistan. And this party has the hide, the temerity and the audacity to come in and lecture this government about how defence is done. This is the first year in seven years when Defence funding has been stable—$3.9 billion more in Defence funding has been provided, in macro terms, this year than the previous year. Defence funding as a proportion of GDP is 1.8 per cent this year. What was it under the Labor Party? It was 1.56 per cent—the lowest level since 1938. I do not think that any of those opposite were born prior to 1938, which means that there is no-one on the other side that has seen Defence funding drop to such a low level under their watch. With that as a background—as a history; as a stinking, rotten carcase sitting over the shoulders of the Labor Party—they walk in here and have the temerity to lecture this government on exactly how defence should be managed. Let's look through the history of exactly what the Labor Party did in government. The then Prime Minister—the ultimate minister when it comes to national security—Prime Minister Gillard, could not be bothered attending the National Security Committee of cabinet. Who did she send? She sent her bodyguard. That is how the Labor Party treats defence. Their Prime Minister sent her bodyguard along to the National Security Committee of cabinet. What did Prime Minister Rudd do? Let's look at the consistency of the Labor Party. Prime Minister Rudd sent an adviser to the National Security Committee of cabinet. That is the extent to which the Labor Party treats the National Security Committee. It is simply extraordinary. Opposition members interjecting— The SPEAKER: The member for Charlton will desist. Mr ROBERT: The Defence minister has made it very clear this morning, in terms of rhetorical flourish in his comments regarding submarines. Dr Chalmers interjecting— The SPEAKER: The member for Rankin will desist. Mr ROBERT: He has made it very clear. He has been very open. He has been very honest, as you would expect a competent minister to be. Ms Plibersek interjecting— The SPEAKER: The member for Sydney will desist. Mr ROBERT: He has been extraordinarily honest in terms of his comments. We all know that the submarine process has at least six months to go. Why does it still have six months to go? Because for six, long, horrid, wintry years, the Labor Party made zero decisions on submarines. Zero decisions were made on our submarine capability—to the point where we are facing a very real capability gap. The Labor Party refused to make a call on the next generation submarine and now demand that we as a government clean up all of their mistakes. Their hypocrisy knows no bounds. It is no wonder we were forced to shut down the Leader of the Opposition. Not even his own side could sit quietly and believe what he had to say. It is extraordinary. Let us look at the other failures of the Labor Party when it comes to defence—because the failure is extraordinary. We saw everything from a white paper that was not funded to defence capability plans that were not approved. We saw everything from Labor saying they would index DFRDB pensions and failing to do so through to reducing our forces to impotence. The Labor Party are especially good at spin, but— The SPEAKER: Order! The time allotted for this debate has elapsed. The question is that the Leader of the Opposition's motion be agreed to.