Tim Watts
Gellibrand · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“Consider all of this growth that we've experienced: this happened after the previous government did nothing on EVs and left Australia's renewable energy policy empty, on a dead battery. Since 2022, the Albanese government has not only caught up, but has completely recharged renewable energy policy in Australia.”
“In my community, 1,600 households have already made the switch using the subsidy. Many of these households have slashed up to 90 per cent off their energy bills, and we've already had over 20,000 solar panel installations in my electorate, in Melbourne's west.”
“In this year's budget, we announced that we are supporting the single biggest boost to Australia's main energy grid, with new renewable energy projects, and by 2030 these projects will supply enough electricity for four million Australian households. We've also been delivering the Albanese government's Cheaper Home Batteries Program.”
“Four years later, our reforms mean that it's now cheaper than ever to make the switch to electric, and we're seeing the consequences of our reforms. When we came into office, Australians bought an electric vehicle once every 45 minutes; now it's once every two minutes.”
“On top of that, we've discounted EVs further by making them fully exempt from import tax. Our government's new vehicle efficiency standard incentivises car companies to supply more efficient vehicles, and this includes hybrid, plug-in hybrid and more-efficient petrol and diesel vehicles.”
“EV models available for under $40,000 have grown from just two in 2022 to more than 10 today. It's no wonder there's been this 2,482 per cent growth in EVs in my electorate in Melbourne's west—in an outer suburb in Melbourne's west—and it'll only go up from here.”
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“The institutions of Australia's Asia capability, our ability to understand and be effective in our region, are in decline, and the challenge is most acute when it comes to Indonesia. Asia capability is a vital sovereign capability for our nation. It must be a national priority, and it's why the Moore report— Australia's S outheast Asia e conomic s trategy to 2040 recommended with its first recommendation: National Cabinet should consider developing a whole-of-nation plan to strengthen Southeast Asia literacy in Australian business, government, the education and training system, and the community. The Albanese government has lifted our diplomatic, defence, development and economic engagement with our region to unprecedented levels, using all of the tools of statecraft to maximise our influence in the region.”
“This first exercise in Indonesian-Australian engagement resulted in the Yolngu language adopting a series of Malay loan words that are still in use to this very day. Australia is also proud to have been amongst the earliest and strongest supporters of Indonesian independence, both through the diplomatic actions of the Chifley government at the United Nations and through the actions of Australian mariners and dockworkers who blocked Dutch vessels with the boycott that began in Sydney Harbour through the trade union movement. Australia was a friend of Indonesia at its moment of birth, and we remain friends today. The signing of this treaty represents a high-water mark in our international engagement with Indonesia, but at home we face a complex challenge to make the most of this treaty.”
“This new treaty builds on the achievements of Paul Keating and Gareth Evans and their counterparts, President Suharto and Foreign Minister Ali Alatas, in their agreement on maintaining security, signed 30 years ago in 1995. And, indeed, it goes further, instituting leader-level consultations. This treaty demonstrates the strength of the Australia-Indonesia partnership and the depth of our trust and cooperation. It's a depth and strength that are reflected in our shared history. Long before a word of English was ever spoken on Australian soil, members of the Yolngu language group in Arnhem Land were conversing with Malay- and Indonesian-speaking traders and fishermen from Makassar who had come to Australia in search of trepang—sea cucumber.”
“There is no country more important to Australia than Indonesia, and under the Albanese government the relationship has never been stronger. The recently signed Australia-Indonesia Treaty on Common Security marks a historic moment and signals a new era for the Australia-Indonesia relationship. As Prime Minister Albanese has said, this treaty is a watershed. It was a personal initiative of the Prime Minister and President Prabowo, a sign of the deep trust and close friendship between our leaders and governments. Australia and Indonesia are the closest of partners; we share an unbreakable bond. The Australia-Indonesia relationship is based on friendship, trust, mutual respect and a shared commitment to peace and stability in our region.”
“Together, we've built a nation that isn't perfect. It's an ongoing project, and it's getting better over the long arc of history. We've made terrible mistakes as a country in the past, but we've not allowed ourselves to be defined by them or trapped by them. What a miracle it is that a country that federated in the cause of a white Australia policy became the most successful multicultural nation on earth. This is the real story of Australia, not the small numbers of people shouting at each other on the streets or on social media. House adjourned at 20 : 00”
“I love that in modern Australia we respond to bushfires in hard hats, Akubras and turbans side by side, looking out for people in need. I love that a Japanese bloke can spend two years walking across this country with a wheelbarrow safely and Australians of every conceivable background will go out of their way to look after him—Catman powered by Australia. I even love this parliament—a place where every sitting week Jews and Muslims play basketball with atheists and Christians under gumtrees just outside this building; a place where our PM grew up in public housing with a single mum and found a father figure in Tom Uren, one of Dunlop's thousand, perhaps the greatest ever embodiment of Australia's values. What an extraordinary country it is that could produce all of this. We've built something special here in Australia, something better.”
“My electorate is one of the most diverse in Australia, and I see Australians with heritages connected to every corner on earth embracing these values every day. I love modern Australia, and I'm proud of it. I love that we're home to the world's oldest continuous culture on earth and share in its deep knowledge of our country. I love that we're home to one of the oldest democracies on earth buttressed by the AEC and democracy sausages. I love the incredible diversity of our achievement. I love our K-pop stars; our African Australian track athletes; our armies of NIDA educated Hollywood stars; our favourite team, the Tillies; and our tech entrepreneurs building world-leading companies. I love Pat Cummins's seam and Alana King's drift.”
“Being Australian is about the ideas, values, customs, norms and behaviours that we share as a people and the stories and art that we value as expressions of this shared culture. Australian identity is an imagined community, an idea of what we have in common that we build together. Artists, authors, athletes, politicians, faith leaders, community leaders and volunteers, all Australians, build this together. Australian values—egalitarianism, a sense of humour, a love for nature and the great outdoors—aren't a cliché or empty rhetoric. They are lived every day in our communities, and they set our country apart in the world. We recognise them. We celebrate them. We feel connected when we see them embodied in other Australians.”
“It's also particularly important in this context that we take the threat of violent extremism seriously and vigorously pursue the small numbers of extremists who have fallen into the rabbit hole of radicalisation. But I also think that it's important in the current climate to spend time cultivating the things that we have in common as Australians. Australia is more than a nation of difference respecters. We're a nation bonded by shared identity and values, bonded by what one of our greatest authors, David Malouf, described as a community of experience or our common response to place, to land and to landscape in all its diverse forms over the continent, to the events that we call history, to the institutions that determine our relations to one another and through which we try to make a good and just society.”
“While conflict has always been more likely to get a run on TV or in the papers than a good news story, a number of media outlets are now chasing financial viability by pursuing outrage as a business model. But, in our schools and in our workplaces, in our faith groups and in our sporting clubs—in our broader community—the overwhelming majority of Australians are proud of the country that modern Australia has become and thankful to live in the greatest country on earth. As the Prime Minister has said, we need to turn the temperature down in this country, and when disagreements inevitably arise we need to engage in those disagreements respectfully. This is important.”
“I know from conversations in my community that many Australians are increasingly disturbed about the way that our country is being portrayed on social media and in the mainstream media. If you believe the news or your news feed, you'd think our country was defined by polarisation and division, but this is not the reality that the vast majority of Australians are living in their day-to-day lives. There are certainly groups of Australians with a whole range of motivations who now seek conflict with their fellow Australians instead of connection, people who are quick to condemn others and slow to listen and change themselves. Social media platforms make money by training users to fight each other. They trick people into thinking that their differences are bigger than the things that unite us.”
“Unless we choose to make developing Asia capability a priority as a nation, we are choosing to leave our future security and prosperity to be determined by others. Universities play a critical role in developing the Asia capability we need for our future. We heard it consistently through the parliamentary inquiry, and ATEC, with its own decision-making powers and responsibility for new mission based compacts with individual universities, presents an opportunity to get our universities back on track when it comes to developing the Asia capability that Australia needs. I congratulate Professor Mary O'Kane and Distinguished Professor Larissa Behrendt for their work as interim commissioners of ATEC. (Time expired)”
“The Australian Academy of the Humanities likewise said that ATEC 'should acknowledge Asia capability as one of Australia's priority national capabilities, monitor national gaps and opportunities and set benchmarks through mission based compacts'. Professor Michael Wesley from the University of Melbourne said: … ATEC is a real opportunity to have a national approach to Asia capability at our universities. And we need it now. Our region is increasingly dynamic, complex and consequential. Fundamental assumptions about Australian strategic and foreign policy are being challenged. We need the skills and capabilities to make our own way in the region. To be effective in our own region, we need our leaders and our institutions to be Asia capable.”
“This is a body that has stood up to talk about arrangements with universities that extend beyond the life of a single government. In their written submission to the inquiry, the University of Queensland wrote that Asia capability 'should be advanced by the Australian Tertiary Education Commissions university compacts'. As the University of Queensland wrote: Not only should there be incentives for universities with educational offerings and research capabilities in Asia literacy, but there should also be incentives for these institutions to expand the reach of their offerings to students studying at other universities. To do this, it will be necessary to find innovative solutions that enable students to add the study of Asian languages and cultures into their degree programs.”
“Led by Professor Ben Hillman, the Centre for China in the World has become a nation-leading institution for building risk-informed China capability. Professor Hillman has played an innovative role in building pathways for students to develop their Chinese language capability from high school to university and through to postgraduate study. Initiatives like this are commendable, and, with leadership and coordination from ATEC, initiatives of this kind could have a system-wide impact. The ATEC is an opportunity to provide oversight and coordination to help address some of these problems. We've seen submissions and witnesses in this inquiry say the same thing over and over again. Professor Hainge again has said: To recognise that we need a coordinated national system is critical. I think we're at an ideal moment with ATEC coming online.”
“Despite these significant challenges, the research into our region and teaching of Asian languages and area studies is vital for our national interests. Australia needs sovereign Asia capability, and universities need to play a role in developing it. In some cases, universities have attempted to innovate and collaborate to keep language studies alive. For example, people like Professor Greg Hainge from the University of Queensland are trying to innovate in these difficult circumstances. Queensland's three largest universities established the Brisbane Universities Languages Alliance, which offers nine languages to students from three universities. Another institution providing innovative solutions in these difficult times is ANU'S Australian Centre on China in the World.”
“Yet over the past two decades, there has been a noticeable and alarming trend: a decline in the structures, institutions and people who make the teaching and training of our students possible … University leaders, who often have limited exposure to or lack of connections with Asia, are often unable to see the value of offering Asian languages or Asian studies units and majors for the nation. Often, there's limited or no leadership support for saving these programs when they're at risk of cuts for financial reasons. Further, the relatively high cost for universities to offer these courses in the context of a demand driven model of higher education often causes these programs to be cut. Unfortunately, the threat of cuts makes the teaching of Asian languages and Asian studies precarious and unappealing for academics and lecturers.”
“As Professor Melissa Crouch said: In Australia, Asian studies and the study of Asia across the various disciplines … has long relied upon the institutional support of its leaders—its vice-chancellors, deputy vice-chancellors, deans, heads of school, and so forth. It has also relied upon secure structural foundations—Asian studies degrees, a suite of Asian language offerings, independent research centres, and the study of Asia embedded across a range of disciplines, from law to business.”
“Universities Australia told the inquiry that teaching costs for language courses have also increased. Data from Deloitte indicates that foreign languages had the second-largest annual cost increase of 6.2 per cent from 2019 to 2020. As Universities Australia wrote: The combination of declining demand and increased teaching costs has placed significant pressure on universities to offer Asia capability building opportunities at a substantial financial loss. ATEC could help provide guidance on the costs of teaching and learning that will support meeting Australia's current and future skills needs. Many Asian language and area studies are kept on the whim of university leaders.”
“ATEC will work closely with other agencies and offices, including Jobs and Skills Australia, TEQSA, the Australian Research Council, the National Centre for Vocational Education Research and state and territory governments to ensure its advice and decisions are informed by the best evidence. We've heard that breaking the cycle of program closures around the country in Asian languages and Asia studies requires government intervention on the supply of programs and teachers teaching these courses and, importantly, to enhance the demand for Asia-capable individuals. We've heard that structural reform with enforceable commitments is required. Collapsing demand from students for the study of Asian languages has flowed through to the supply of Asian language programs.”
“The University of New South Wales shared that student demand for Chinese language courses has fallen by 58 per cent since 2018, and enrolments for Japanese language courses have decreased by 19 per cent. The number of universities and academics conducting deep research into Asian studies is declining precipitously. Across universities, there is no nationally coordinated prioritisation of resources, data collection, leadership or long-term vision for Asia capability. The ATEC presents an opportunity to coordinate and align efforts across the higher education sector to get it working as a system when it comes to building our nation's Asia capability.”
“As the founder of the Australian Consortium for In-Country Indonesian Studies, Professor David Hill, said: Only a handful of highly skilled, Indonesia-focused graduates are now being produced by Australian universities. He went on to say: … the current national decline in enrolments has consequences more severe than at any other time during my professional life. As the University of Sydney wrote in their submission to the inquiry: The erosion of university-level language and area studies capacity has left government and business without the deep contextual insight needed for long-term strategy. An Australian Academy of the Humanities report found that only 17 Australians completed honours in Chinese studies with language between 2017 and 2021—no more than five Australians a year.”
“Between 2004 and 2022, university enrolments in South-East Asian languages declined by 75 per cent. In 1997, there were six Australian universities that taught Hindi; now, there are only two, with only the Australian National University teaching Hindi in person. Only 12 universities now teach Indonesian, down from 22 in the 1990s. Of the more than one million Australian domestic students at Australian universities in 2023, barely 500 students were enrolled in a single subject of Bahasa Indonesia nationwide. As Dr Matthew Davies, Deputy Vice-Chancellor at ANU, confirmed in evidence heard by the committee, the threat to Indonesian studies at Australian universities is 'existential'. Without government intervention, Indonesian studies—the study of language and the study of Indonesian culture and society—risks going extinct.”
“The institutions that we need to develop the next generation of leaders with deep Asia expertise are in crisis. That's why, as Chair of the Standing Committee on Education, I am leading an inquiry into the development of Australia's Asia capability, looking at the enablers and the barriers to addressing this whole-of-nation challenge. Universities are essential to developing this sovereign capability—this Asia capability—for Australia. University language programs and area studies are essential for producing the deep Asia expertise Australia needs to navigate the current circumstances we confront. Unfortunately, there have been a series of closures of Asian language and area studies programs at universities across the country. The decline in university enrolments in Asian languages and area studies is stark.”
“I've met countless leaders—Australian ambassadors to countries in our region, business leaders investing in trading in our region and strategic thinkers aiming to understand our region—who all developed their Asia capability while at university. Currently, we benefit from the deep Asia capability within a small number of individuals at the top of our Public Service, universities, civil society and private sector. However, the expertise of these individuals is the product of investments made decades ago. Unfortunately, the structures and institutions that educated this generation of leaders, increasingly, no longer exists at our institutions of higher education. The pipeline of future Asia-capable leaders is breaking down in Australia.”
“Asia capability—the mix of cultural understanding, language faculties and regional experiences needed to be effective in Asia—underpins all spheres of our national endeavour, our statecraft, our industry, our defence and our civil society. Australia cannot rely on other countries to produce the analysis that we need, to share our research priorities or to develop the relationships that we need to serve our interests. We need the sovereign capability to do these things for ourselves in our own region. It's the foundation of everything that we want to do in our region. Universities play a vital role in building Australia's Asia capability. It's where students develop expertise in the countries of our region, deepening their focus during honours, master's and PhD programs.”
“China is seeking to change the regional balance of power. The Trump administration is pursuing a different role for America in the world. Our neighbours in South-East Asia are seeking to navigate their own way in these changing times. Australia needs to be able to understand and engage with countries in our own region through our own perspective, and we can't rely on other countries to do this for us. Australia needs our own leaders and our own institutions to have the capabilities necessary to be effective in our region. More than ever before, Australia's security and our prosperity depend on our ability to be effective in our own region.”
“The ATEC will have its own decision-making powers, and it will take on responsibility for new mission based compacts with individual universities. The ATEC will provide expert advice to government on policy settings and strategic direction, the cost of teaching and learning in higher education, student demand, and meeting Australia's current and future skills and knowledge demand. The ATEC, by taking a systems approach rather than an individual institutions approach, will ensure that Australian universities can deliver the vital sovereign capabilities that Australia will need in the coming decades. There's nowhere that we need this more than with Australia's engagement with a rapidly-changing world. The current external environment is asking more of Australia's leaders and Australia's institutions than ever before.”
“It will take a long-term vision and a long-term commitment to deliver. To ensure its success, it needs a steward to drive and steer these reforms, and the ATEC will formally take on this role for the tertiary education sector. As the Minister for Education has said, of all the recommendations in the accord, the establishment of the ATEC may be the most important. The establishment of the ATEC provides a singular opportunity for Australia's future. It provides an opportunity for an independent, expert body to drive real and lasting reform in the higher education sector. It provides an opportunity to uplift the coordination and administration of the sector. It's an opportunity to coordinate and align efforts across higher education institutions—as the Minister for Education says, 'to get the sector to work more like a system'.”
“It also noted that our universities and vocational education providers must work closely together to meet our future skills needs. It recommends expanding opportunities for people who are currently underrepresented in higher education—people like those in the communities that I represent in this chamber, including those from regional communities and from disadvantaged backgrounds—through new learning hubs, additional supported places and stronger financial and academic support. It also called for reforms to funding and student debt, improvements to governance and accountability, and a renewed focus on quality research, innovation and national capability. The government has implemented 31 of the accord's 47 recommendations. The accord is a blueprint for sector reform for the decades ahead.”
“The Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) Bill 2025 establishes the Australian Tertiary Education Commission, the ATEC. The ATEC was, of course, a key recommendation from the Australian Universities Accord. When the Albanese Labor government first came into power, the Minister for Education, Jason Clare, identified the need for reform of Australia's higher education sector, and he appointed six Australians to look at seven priority areas in the higher education sector. Considering these priorities, the accord puts forward a long-term vision for rebuilding Australia's tertiary education system. It argues that many more Australians—an increase, in fact, to approximately 80 per cent of the workforce—will require post-school qualifications in coming decades.”
“At the last federal election, the federal Labor government committed $55 million to duplicate and upgrade Central Avenue between Lunn Court and Skehan Boulevard, leading into the intersection at Point Cook Road, which is currently being reconstructed with state government funding. We also made $3.5 million available for a business case to upgrade Point Cook Road between Jamieson Way and Dunnings Road. Both of those projects will make a real impact on the current congestion on Point Cook Road, but I understand that more will need to be done in the coming years. I welcome the engagement I've had with my state and federal colleagues on these heritage and infrastructure issues to date, and I'll continue to pursue them as this process unfolds in the coming years.”
“Done right, this process is an opportunity to increase Australians' access to this heritage site, which is currently severely constrained due to the significant limitations of public access to an active RAAF base. Second, I know full well the strains that development in Melbourne's west is putting on our local infrastructure. I live it. Point Cook has grown to become Australia's biggest suburb by population and our community needs infrastructure to keep up with it. So, should any part of these estates be made available for housing in the future, putting in place the necessary infrastructure to support it before any construction occurs is essential.”
“Despite the breathless media coverage this morning, no decisions have been made about what will happen to land divested as part of this audit. The process for deciding how this land is used will be a long one. It will take years and our community will have plenty of opportunities to be heard. As the local member, I'll work with all levels of government to ensure two things along this journey. First, that the heritage value of Point Cook as the birthplace of the RAAF is preserved. Point Cook has been on the Commonwealth Heritage List since 2004. Julia Gillard fought for its preservation as the local member then, and I'm not about to squander that legacy as the local member now.”
“This week, the government released our response to the Defence Estate Audit. This report recommends a divestment of RAAF Williams Point Cook and a significant part of RAAF Williams Laverton. The government's response to this audit has rightly been made on the basis of its assessment of the national interests and the needs of the ADF in changing strategic circumstances in which Australia finds itself today. The world has changed a lot since these bases were established and Australia needs to make hard choices to ensure that locations of our defence bases are fit for purpose and that the ADF has the facilities and capabilities it needs to keep Australians safe. But these recommendations will also have significant local implications for our community in Melbourne's west. So I want to reassure my community of a few things.”
“These kinds of views are not right, but they've become too common in recent times. There's been too little empathy and curiosity and too much contempt and condemnation in Australia in recent years—too little kindness and too much hatred. All of us have an obligation to strive to do better in the wake of Bondi. We owe this to each of the individuals who lost their lives at Bondi and who we commemorate here today. May their memories be a blessing.”
“We have work to do in Australia to ensure that the promise of this country is extended to all Australians and to stamp out the antisemitism that is denying a group of Australians the ability to live their lives like the rest of us. Antisemitism is the oldest prejudice, but it's grown into something of a different kind in recent years. Terrible events on the other side of the world have led far too many Australians to treat their fellow citizens here terribly. It's not right, and we need to do better. We should be clear that it is antisemitic to hold Jews in Australia accountable for the actions of the Israeli government, that it is antisemitic to speculate that attacks on Jews in Australia are false-flag events and that it is antisemitic to celebrate terrorist groups whose stated objective is to murder Jews.”
“For generations people have come to Australia from around the world seeking to build something better than the place that they left, to leave behind the prejudices of the old world and to build something new and better—a place where everyone gets a fair go to live their life and practice their faith in safety and security. Most poignantly, Australia has long been privileged to be home to the highest per-capita number of Holocaust survivors outside of Israel. Those people survived the worst of humanity and chose to seek safety among us. That a Holocaust survivor was killed in the Bondi attack is a fact of national heartbreak and shame.”
“The idea that a terrorist has sought to deny a group of Australians the right to the peaceful enjoyment of our beaches in this attack feels like a particular affront. The reaction that we've seen in the swim-out at Bondi and the surf lifesavers standing arm in arm around our community, including at Altona Beach in my electorate, is a testament to this. The response of everyday Australians to this atrocity has been to stand in solidarity with Jewish Australians and to insist that they continue to belong as a valued part of our nation; that they have a right to practise their faith as Jewish Australians in safety; and that the violation of this right that we saw at Bondi, and in a series of antisemitic incidents in this country in recent years, will not be tolerated.”
“I represent one of the most religiously diverse communities in Australia—home to churches, Sikh gurdwaras, Hindu mandirs, Islamic mosques and Buddhist temples—and I've been proud that over generations we have built a country where people don't need to choose between their faith and a sense of belonging with their community and their nation. It's a country where the things that unite us as Australians are bigger than the things that divide us. I see this on the beaches of my electorate every weekend. That this terrorist attack targeted Australians practising their faith on a beach—a place that unites people of all backgrounds in the secular rituals of Australian life—is an intolerable desecration. We don't do private beaches in Australia, because the country we share belongs to all of us.”
“We grieve with all of those who lost a loved one or who were traumatised by this appalling attack, and we send to them our condolences, our love and our solidarity. We thank and celebrate the heroes of that day. People going about their everyday lives put themselves in harm's way to save others. First responders ran towards the danger. Surf lifesavers, a sacred symbol of Australian identity, braved human, rather than natural, threats on that day to save lives. This sickening ISIS-inspired antisemitic terrorist attack targeted Jews celebrating the first night of Hanukkah, the eight-day festival of lights celebrating Jewish resilience. Our hearts break not just for the loss of life on that day but also for the way in which this atrocity attacked the Australian way of life.”
“As we've heard powerfully today, in the Jewish tradition, the memory of those that we have lost is kept alive by saying their names, so let me begin by again saying the names of those who were killed in the antisemitic terrorist attack at Bondi Beach on 14 December last year: Matilda, Edith Brutman, Dan Elkayam, Boris and Sofia Gurman, Alexander Kleytman, Rabbi Yaakov Levitan, Peter Meagher, Reuven Morrison, Marika Pogany, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, Adam Smyth, Boris Tetleroyd, Tania Tretiak, Tibor Weitzen. There is a universe inside every one of those names. There is a universe of human potential, of human experiences, of thoughts and feelings, of joy and of love in every individual life that was ended in that abhorrent attack. We mourn for them in this parliament and as a nation.”
“Rod's policy expertise, professional dedication, personal generosity and earnest belief in both best practice policymaking and the practice of democracy have left a lasting impression on all members who have participated in MKI programs. Rod is usually the kind of person who works in the background of politics and government, outside of the public eye, but I want to take the opportunity to thank him here publicly today. In working with the team at MKI to build this institution into what it is today, he's made a significant long-term contribution to the quality of the democracy that we all share.”
“MKI has delivered over 30 programs, including its flagship Advanced Political Leadership course, leadership coaching, political mentoring and international study. These programs aren't just world class; they are world leading. Of the 91 McKinnon scholars who have participated in programs to date, 24 are currently ministers and 32 are shadow ministers. There are a lot of people who have made significant contributions to the success of this institution, but I want to pay special tribute today to Rod Glover. Rod has variously been the CEO, academic director and professor of political leadership at McKinnon Institute. He recently announced his resignation after six years at MKI.”
“I want to take the opportunity to celebrate one of the good news stories in Australian democracy and thank the people that made it happen. The McKinnon Institute for Political Leadership was established to support Australian political leaders, state and federal, to become more capable, effective and legitimate policymakers while also cultivating a sense of stewardship in our democratic institutions. It was established with the extraordinary vision of Grant Rule, Sophie Oh and Sam Mellett from the Susan McKinnon Foundation, with the objective of building a world-class, structured professional development program for Australian political leaders. It has been an extraordinary success.”
“We got to work doing this as soon as we came to government, so it's important that we have committees like this to ensure that issues and investments like that maintain the focus of the parliament that they desire. More than ever, we need to ensure our defence ecosystems are transparent and accountable and have appropriate oversight. We need to ensure there is oversight of strategically key investments. We need to ensure Australia's defence ecosystem can meet the challenges of the time, and that is what the bill before the House represents. I cede time to my colleagues on the opposite side of the chamber to address this bill.”
“Under the previous government, we lost a decade of work on these projects. The lack of oversight and focus in the development of these bases in the north and north-west led to a decade-long delay between the 2012 Force posture review and the 2023 Defence strategic review. That's why the establishment of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Defence is so significant for Australia. Our government's defence base hardening is important for Australia's security, and the delay between the 2012 Force posture review and the 2023 Defence strategic review meant that our key bases in the north and west faced vulnerabilities. It also means that they now require significant, rapid investment and hardening.”
“In the Indian Ocean, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands is a key territory for Australia. The island is located 2,000 kilometres from Australia's north-west coastline, adjacent to vital Indian Ocean sea lanes. As argued by Professor Peter Dean and Alice Nason in a recent report by the United States Studies Centre, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands is a key Indian Ocean asset for Australia. That's why we're investing $567.6 million to upgrade the airfield there to sustain Defence operations in the Indian Ocean. This investment is expanding infrastructure in this territory and will see its operational significant to Australia only grow in the future. Despite this clear strategic imperative, the implementation of upgrades to Australia's northern defence network has been impaired by significant delays and rising costs.”
“The ADF must be equipped to support operations in the north through surveillance, air defence, strike and air transport. Development of defence estates will address force posture requirements and enhance an integrated, focused force as outlined in the 2024 N ational d efence strategy . In order to realise this, the government is upgrading defence bases, including $1 billion for upgrades to land and joint estate capabilities, $600 million in maritime estate investments, including HMAS Coonawarra , HMAS Cairns and the Harold E Holt naval communication station, and an additional $200 million towards the acceleration of additional projects. The ADF will be better equipped to defend Australia's north thanks to $14 billion to $18 billion of funding for resilient bases under the 2024 Integrated Investment Program.”
“Bilateral defence cooperation between Australia and regional partners enhances collective strength, contributes to all countries' security and makes an important contribution to regional peace and security. The context in this bill is that we're also undertaking a long overdue program of base hardening and investment in our northern and western defence bases. The Albanese government is hardening Australia's northern defence infrastructure in the Northern Territory, North Queensland and Western Australia, and we're doing this because the Defence Strategic Review identified improving the ability of the ADF to operate from Australia's northern bases as a key priority. Given our strategic circumstances, the ADF must be optimised for littoral operations in northern land and maritime spaces.”