E&OE

JAMES GLENDAY:

The spotlight in Europe has been on defence spending this week with the highly anticipated NATO meeting, which, of course, was attended by Donald Trump. Plenty of flattery going around there. It's also triggered some more debate back here in Australia about how much we should be spending on defence and for more we're joined by Coalition Defence spokesperson Angus Taylor, for the first time since the election. Angus, welcome back to News Breakfast.

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Great to be with you, James.

 

JAMES GLENDAY:

What would you like to see Australia spend on defence?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, we think it's absolutely appropriate that we increase defence expenditure up to at least 3% of GDP, and that's in line with what we took to the last election. Of course, James, as you would be well aware, and ultimately, if you step back from this, we're seeing authoritarian regimes around the world flexing their muscles. We're seeing it, of course, with Russia. We're seeing it with Iran and their proxies. We're seeing it with the military buildup of the Chinese Communist Party and all of this means we are in a more uncertain world than at any time since the Second World War and so it's essential Australia be in a position to stand on its own two feet alongside our allies like the United States and the UK and that does mean we have to spend more on defence.

 

JAMES GLENDAY:

A lot of NATO countries, I think all bar Spain have committed, at least in Europe, in theory, to 5% which is 3.5% on the military, 1.5% on infrastructure. 3% is of course is lower than that, you wouldn't go higher if you were to win government again in the future?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, look, I think at the moment, we've got to get to the point where we're actually funding the plan that Labor laid out in their Defence Strategic Review, which is not the case right now. The Defence Strategic Review came down some time ago. Labor has not funded that appropriately, and it needs to be funded, James, and this is absolutely essential. You know, the United States has shown in recent weeks that they will support those who help themselves. This is about our sovereignty. This is about our decisions, and we do need 3% of GDP to fund our own plan, and that's got to be the first port of call.

 

JAMES GLENDAY:

Alright, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke will be along later in the show. We can ask him about some of that. I just want to take you to another issue that you've spoken about in the past day or so. Angus, does the Liberal Party need quotas for women?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, we absolutely need more women in the Party at every level, whether it's members of our branches, whether it's on our executives, whether indeed it is as Members of Parliament, and I think there's a huge job for us all to make sure that we are representative of our communities in every way possible, and that means attracting the most talented people from across our communities that we can, including women. I'm never a believer in subverting democratic processes with quotas. There are other ways I've found through the course of my professional career through mentoring, in particular, attraction and recruitment processes, retention processes as well. All of these things are absolutely necessary to make sure we are more representative of our communities. I think that's essential at a time like now, after our devastating election loss.

 

JAMES GLENDAY:

Just to be explicit, you are a hard no to quotas.

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

I've never been a supporter of quotas, James, because I don't believe in subverting democratic processes. The Labor Party does. We traditionally haven't in the Liberal Party, I think there's better ways of achieving this, and I've found that in my own professional career.

 

JAMES GLENDAY:

I mean, sorry to jump in, but the Labor Party obviously went down this path. It has a lot more women in Parliament. Now this idea of quotas has been discussed for such a long time within the Liberal Party. I mean, it became a big issue after Tony Abbott took on responsibility for the women's portfolio after the 2013 election. If you don't take substantial action now and do something like this, what will change?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, we should take substantial action, James. I'm in furious agreement with you, but I'm saying that subverting democratic processes through quotas is not the right way to do it. I think you've got to work with democratic processes. I'm a big believer in democracy, in organisations like ours and in a country like ours, of course, and so I don't think subverting those processes is the right way forward, but we do need to take substantial action more broadly as well. I mean, making sure we are representative of the communities across Australia, and I don't think we have been as representative as we need to be. This is something I've personally crusaded on for some time, and I'll continue to, including women. I mean, even in my own office, I've made a real point of this, and I think it's incredibly important James, but there's ways of doing this. I think the Liberal Party has to do better. There's a very healthy debate about how to do it, and it's an important debate, but for me, it's not about subverting democracy.

 

JAMES GLENDAY:

Okay, yes, no to quotas. You’re clear on that. Just because this is the first time, we've had you on since the final week of the election campaign, I just wanted to ask, were you disappointed to miss out on the Liberal leadership, and is that a job that you would still like one day?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

James, look, I am really delighted to be the Shadow Defence Minister. As you know, defence is incredibly important right now. We're facing these authoritarian regimes. They're flexing their muscles in ways that they haven’t for a long time and I’m absolutely delighted to be taking the lead on this important topic where we’ve got to hold the government to account.

 

JAMES GLENDAY:

Still not answering the question Angus, do you still have leadership ambitions? Maybe in the future, three years, six years?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, I want to lead our defence portfolio. I’m leading our defence portfolio and I want to lead defence in this country and that is my ambition James, I can absolutely assure you and you’re going to hear a lot more from me on that.

 

JAMES GLENDAY:

Alright, Angus Taylor thank you for joining News Breakfast this morning.

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Good to be with you.

 

ENDS.