Intro 

 

Thank you. It’s a privilege to join such an esteemed line-up of speakers and contribute to these important discussions. 

 

I note my colleague Richard Marles, who I think was here just a few minutes ago, has been a regular here, and I hope to do exactly same. He did it for many years, with ‘Shadow’ in front of his name.

 

I’m hoping to do for less years than him, but it is wonderful to be here, and I really appreciate the invitation you’ve given me.

 

I’ve been in this portfolio for around 90 days, and I am mindful that I stand in front of a room full of experts, who will always know more about submarines than I will ever know!

 

My focus today is to outline my approach to the Defence portfolio, share some observations on social licence – which I know Is something that you have been talking about over the last couple of days –  and how that interacts with the conversation we have to have with Australians about the strategic environment we face right now.

 

I also want to set out the Coaliton’s thinking on the future of AUKUS. I was sitting around the Cabinet table when we made the decision on AUKUS – it was monumental.

I knew at the time when we had those discussions how monumental it was, and I'm very proud to have been part of that cabinet when that decision was made. But I do want to share some of our thinking about where it needs to go from here.

 

It is very clear that Western Australia will be central to that future, and so it's wonderful that we're here today in Western Australia. It'll be central to that future, not just as a participant, but as a beating heart of our naval capability.

 

From HMAS Stirling, to Rotational Force West, to the expansion of the Henderson precinct, WA will carry weight in national security as significant as its traditional role in resources and agriculture.

 

My Background and the Economics of Defence 

 

I come to this portfolio with fresh eyes, which has upsides and downsides.

 

My background is not military but business – principally applied economics: creating businesses, advising CEOs, and running a family farm. Much of that time was here in Western Australia, working in the resources and agriculture; those critical industries that do and have underpinned this state and his country for many, many years.

 

It is no exaggeration to say that WA’s industries are the bedrock of our national economy, and they will continue to be, and I'm very proud to say that I think AUKUS will be part of that in the years to come.

 

Just as WA built a mining industry that changed the nation’s trajectory, so too can we build a defence industry anchored here in a way that reshapes Australia’s security posture. 

 

What strikes me most as a newcomer to the portfolio is how many of the challenges we face in defence are fundamentally economic in nature.

 

The Game Theory of grand strategy is great powers again exercise their muscle and play a bigger geopolitical role in the world around us.

 

The industrial realities of capability and actually fascinating to hear that discussion just a moment ago those real industrial realities, the workforce and skill space that we need.

 

And the fiscal and inflationary pressures on defence spending, not just here in Australia, but right around the developed and Western world – in fact, the world, more generally.

 

Cyber security, critical infrastructure, and energy security – issues I have dealt with in my past life, both as a minister and before politics, are now of direct strategic significance. 

 

As Minister for Cyber Security and Law Enforcement, I secured the integrity of our 5G infrastructure and law enforcement’s access to encrypted services. I'm very proud of that role that I play early-on in the understanding of just how important these issues were.

 

As Cities Minister, I pioneered City Deals – coordinating planning, infrastructure and services across multiple levels of government and the private sector, challenges that remain just as relevant to precincts like Henderson, here in Western Australia.

 

As Energy Minister, I secured refining capability – sadly, not here in WA – but in other states in Australia, built local fuel reserves, and approved projects to strengthen dispatchable energy supply. 

 

As Industry Minister, I worked to shore up sovereign capability across critical supply chains, from medical manufacturing to industrial fuels and advanced steel. 

 

All of that informs how I now view AUKUS. 

 

While technical detail is critical, what has struck me most that requires clarity is that we too often take the strategic imperative for granted.

 

Rooms like this may agree, and I’m sure most will agree, but we have to bring the Australian people with us. 

 

That requires clarity about the strategic reality we face. 

 

The case for strategic realism 

 

We do face a watershed moment in the world and in our region.  

 

Across all our roles – we owe it to the Australian people to be honest about our geopolitical environment, and what it requires right now. 

 

Australia faces the most dangerous strategic environment since the Second World War.  

 

I use that word ‘dangerous’ very deliberately, because it is not a word you will find in the Defense Strategic Review or the National Defence Strategy.  

 

But from the Donbas to the Gaza Strip, Australians see human costs of war every night on their televisions.  

 

Across the world, we see an axis of autocracies flexing their muscles.  

 

Testing the resolve of free, democratic countries like ours.  

 

And using increasingly coercive tactics or outright aggression to achieve their strategic intentions.  

 

The asymmetry of new technologies: in missiles, in cyber, and autonomous capabilities – means a country no longer has to set foot in another’s territory to project its power.  

 

Whether or not the threat of invasion of Australia is a realistic prospect, what we know is that dominance of the Indo-Pacific by an autocratic power is at odds with our way of life and peace in our region. 

 

We just commemorated last week, the significant human cost involved in the last attempt at regional domination, with the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Pacific against Imperial Japan. 

 

North Korea has pledged its undying support to Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine, receiving billions in arms sales and a modernised military in return. 

 

For the free people of Taiwan, military drills are now a way of life.  

 

Almost ten years since the International Court's South China Sea Arbitration, the People’s Liberation Army continues provocative actions in the against both Australian personnel and our neighbors. 

 

The peace dividend we have enjoyed was gifted to us through our alliances and the thousands of Australians who fought our peace in many wars.  

 

But the reality is that those same major powers are now expecting their allies to play a larger role. 

 

Political leaders in France, the United States, and the United Kingdom are unequivocal in their commitment to increase defence spending to secure peace through strength and deterrence. 

 

We now stand with New Zealand as the Indo Pacific’s oldest democracy.  

 

A country of free markets, rule of law, freedom of speech, freedom of association and expression.  

 

We cannot take these freedoms, and the prosperity behind them for granted. 

 

And we should not assume that outright conflict is the only threat. Political and economic domination of the Indo-Pacific by a hostile power is a threat to our prosperity and our freedoms as well as our security. 

 

I have seen the direct economic consequences of coercion through attempting to control markets and prices in my work in the iron ore and agriculture. These are threats well short of conflict, but they have devastating consequences. 

 

We must always strive to resolve conflicts through diplomacy and bilateral engagements and continue to repair our trade relationship with China.  

 

But we must also be clear that our concern in the Indo Pacific is not with the Chinese people – the diaspora in Australia – we embrace them as citizens and friends. 

 

But we must heed the warning of history that diplomacy without defence is like music without instruments.  

 

We cannot expect Australians to support strengthening our military when we shy from explaining to them the threats that make this necessary; and we are seeing right now an unprecedented military buildup being driven by the Chinese Communist Party.

 

Our objective is simple: to secure peace and prosperity through strength.  

 

To leverage our status as a strong middle power to secure freedom and prosperity in our region and play a crucial leadership role in the region. 

 

This is why AUKUS is so important: both to the security of our region, and the prosperity that peace provides us.  

 

AUKUS 

 

Now AUKUS represents a generational opportunity for Australia’s economy and our place in the region.  

 

We cannot lose sight of its strategic importance.  

 

This is a bequest from our great allies and friends. 

 

The United Kingdom and the United States are not just our major security allies. They are our economic partners. The US is the source of our strongest two-way investment relationship. The UK is the second strongest. 

 

These economic ties go beyond goods and services but to jobs and people, to contracts, to compatible law, and interconnected financial systems.  

 

The significance of our partnership, and the importance of the sharing of this technology with Australia cannot be understated.  

 

In the context of the current United States review of AUKUS, the importance of these relationships needs to be stressed. A collapse or a downgrading of the AUKUS agreement would represent an historic failure of Australian defense and foreign policy. It would damage our deterrence posture, erode trust in our alliances, and project uncertainty at a time when clarity and strength are essential.  

 

It would embolden those who seek to test Australia’s resolve and undermine our security in the Indo-Pacific.  

 

Avoiding that outcome must be a matter of bipartisan priority.  

 

Our alliance with the United States is one of Australia’s most enduring and foundational partnerships. We value it, independent of personalities because it reflects our shared democratic values and strategic priorities.  

 

The Coalition stands ready to work with the Government to ensure AUKUS endures and succeeds. It is my firm view we should be proactively working with the United States on the AUKUS Review and shaping the outcomes. Our leaders should be engaging with the Administration in whatever form it takes, rather than leaving this to officials.  

 

This requires us to act with urgency, to increase our defence spending and to take the complementary steps necessary to make the partnership work.  

 

To this end, the Coalition has signaled our intent to recommit to our election pledge to increase defence spending to at least 3% of GDP.

 

We also want that GDP to be as large as possible. A strong economy means a strong military, and it means we're better able to afford to increase our defence spending.

 

We have also expedited passage of Defence Housing Amendments to support Rotational Force West. 

 

These things are important not just to adequately fund the Defence Strategic Review, but to enable us to accelerate AUKUS.  

 

The Henderson Defence Precinct is a good example of why this is so important. 

 

Capturing the potential of the Henderson Precinct could create an industry for Western Australia comparable to our mining and agriculture – including up to 10,000 skilled jobs.  

 

Yet planning will not be completed until 2027.  

 

While we welcome the government’s $8 billion investment in HMAS Stirling, the Government has provided just $127 million, offset from Defence – not new money – for Henderson.  

 

That is a missed opportunity not only for our Navy, but for Western Australians who deserve the jobs, skills, and industrial base that Henderson can deliver. 

 

If media reports are correct, $127 million represents just over 1% of Bechtel’s most conservative estimates of the full precinct's costs. 

 

The Government has not provided new funding to DHA to support its commitment under the WA-Commonwealth Agreement to provide housing for Rotational Force West.  

 

Going slow is not sufficient for the strategic environment we are facing.  

 

We should accelerate the planning and development of Henderson as a priority, backed with real money from government, and appropriate partnerships with the private sector, including private investment. 

 

We should ensure the housing demands for Rotational Force West are met working with the State Government to secure a supply side solution to the housing pressures that are inevitably coming as fast from a situation where housing is really in short supply.

 

Above all, Henderson must be more than an unfunded promise. It must be a real precinct, built with urgency, not in a decade’s time – so that it can deliver for Western Australians and all Australians. 

 

But we also should go further.   

 

It is my view that that investment must create the capacity to expand the purpose of the Henderson facility to support deep sustainment of both the Australian and United States’ fleet of Virginia-class submarines, in addition to shipbuilding.   

 

This is an opportunity that could accelerate deterrence in our region, while relieving capacity constraints both in the United States’ shipyards and submarine fleet.  

 

It will complement and accelerate Henderson’s role as the maintenance facility for Australia’s own nuclear submarines.  

 

This would not just keep AUKUS on track but would attract a continuity of work that would sustain the development of our industrial base here in Western Australia.  

 

Conclusion 

 

As I said earlier, we face the most dangerous strategic environment since World War II, and it is time to act. 

 

We must increase our spending and ensure we have the scale and speed to deliver peace through strength and deterrence.  

 

Across the defence portfolio, we clearly face a range of challenges:

 

• To move from rhetoric to readiness

• To stand on our own two as a country and meet our obligations with our allies

• To make agility a strategic asset 

• To invest in the people who are the foundation of our national security 

 

I will have more to say in coming months about how the Coalition will shape solutions to these challenges. 

 

My determination in this role is clear: to focus on the task ahead, not just the debates of the past. 

 

Australia cannot afford drift. We must move with urgency – to build the capability, strengthen the alliances, and grow the resilience our nation needs. 

 

We must be honest with the Australian people about the threat environment we face.  

 

That is the task I commit myself to.  

 

And it is the task I invite all of you to join me in – so that Australia not only meets this moment, but leads our region with confidence, clarity, and resolve. 

 

ENDS.