Deputy Speaker,

I rise to speak to Defence Minister Marles’ ministerial statement on securing Australia’s sovereignty.

Securing our sovereignty is the government’s top priority.

It is the capacity of a people, through their government, to determine their circumstances free from coercion.

Sovereignty underpins every other public good that the state delivers, from essential services to economic growth, and from secure borders to meaningful action on climate change.

And while it is not the only one, defence capability is a key determinant of sovereignty.

In a world where the threat of armed conflict is less remote, and foreign interference more prevalent than ever, it has never been more important to guard our sovereignty.

Deputy Speaker, this is urgent because we face the most difficult strategic circumstances since World War Two.

Russia’s illegal and immoral war in Ukraine gives us daily proof that industrial war is no longer a thing of the past.

And in the Indo-Pacific we see very large military build-ups rivalling any in the post-war period.

We are also seeing increasing strategic competition, with a more assertive China seeking to shape the world around it.

And grey zone activities bring tensions to our shores.

So that we now live in a less safe and less stable world.

This is why we must ensure the security of our strategic geography and the viability of our trade and supply routes.

And it’s why we must work with our likeminded countries, partners, and our United States ally.

Our partnerships represent a network of states that reinforce norms, principles, and the rules-based system to ensure a free, open, and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

The Albanese Government is strengthening our partnerships with the U.S., Japan, Singapore, South Korea, India, Indonesia, ASEAN, and the Quad.

And while all these relationships strengthen Australia’s sovereignty by maximising our influence, today I would like to take this opportunity to speak to our U.S. ally, which has been central to our national security since the 1940s.

The Labor Party is proud to have led the war-time government that laid the alliance’s modern foundations during the Pacific War.

And our 1951 alliance with America is one of the most important bipartisan achievements of Australian diplomacy and one that enjoys broad public approval.

The Government is committed to building on this record.

A significant step-change in our security cooperation with the United States was the establishment of the bilateral Force Posture Initiatives by the Gillard Government in 2011.

This began with the first rotation of marines to Darwin, which has ramped up to the full rotation strength of 2,500 troops.

Successive Australian governments have held the view that a strong and active U.S. military presence in the Indo-Pacific is vital for deterring threats to the stability of the region.

There is one development in the alliance that is hard to miss, namely that it is becoming increasingly Australianised.

What I mean by that is that the alliance is growing more visible on Australian soil and above all in the north of our country.

I have already mentioned the ongoing deployment of Marines to Darwin, which was expanded at the 2022 AUSMIN meeting in Washington D.C. to include rotations of U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force elements to include bombers and fighters training out of Australian bases over the coming years.

AUSMIN communiqués are worth paying attention to because they function as the shared to do list of the alliance.

The latest one committed the allies to supporting enhanced U.S. force posture by co-developing Northern Australian bare bases and associated infrastructure, including runway improvements, parking aprons, fuel infrastructure, explosive ordnance storage infrastructure, and facilities to support the workforce.

An example of this work is the stockpiling of jet fuel at a U.S.-owned storage facility in Darwin.

These force posture initiatives, which Japan has been invited to participate in, strengthen Australia’s security, which in turn increases America’s ability to deter blatant challenges to the rules-based order of the kind we see in Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine.

And as the 2022 communiqué states, Australia and America are concerned by excessive maritime claims in our region that are inconsistent with international law.

As Australia’s strategic real estate increases in significance to our great and powerful American ally, so does the alliance continue to deepen.

I see this trend continuing over the next decade for essentially geopolitical reasons.

America’s force posture initiatives in the region respond to the need to disperse forces to not over rely on its bases in South Korea, Japan and Guam that face growing limitations.

Darwin and other northern and southern Australian bases offer relative safety to our allied forces.

It would be wrong to reduce the alliance to this simple arithmetic, but it is undeniably helping to shape its future.

Our trilateral AUKUS partnership with the U.S. and the UK is the next chapter in our strategic cooperation.

The strongest deterrent and strategic effect Australia can hope to contribute to the alliance is no doubt the acquisition of a nuclear-powered, conventionally armed submarine force.

This was not its only promise, which also included long-range strike capabilities, but it was the main thrust of the 2021 AUKUS technology sharing agreement between Australia, the UK and the U.S. 

This was not a bilateral deal with our U.S. ally, but it must inevitably be understood in the context of the alliance.

While the UK is an extremely close defence partner and not a treaty ally, these submarines are highly likely to operate in an alliance framework.

Far from increasing our dependence as some argue, AUKUS will strengthen Australia’s sovereignty by delivering nuclear-powered, conventionally armed submarines.

Deputy Speaker, to update the House, in January 2023 I led a State Department-sponsored visit to the United States by a bipartisan delegation of Members and Senators in my capacity as Chair of the Parliamentary Friends of the U.S.

During that visit I met with Democratic Congressman Joe Courtney and Mike Gallagher, a rising star in the Republican Party, both of whom are Co-Chairs of the Australia Caucus.

Congressman Courtney was a real gentleman who took time out of his busy schedule for an ally.

We met at a deli and ate bagels, discussing some of the workforce issues affecting accelerated submarine building.

My impression is that these challenges are real but that we can get there with the workforce, training and political will to lift the capacity of American shipyards, which Congressman Courtney also supports.

On my visit to the United States, I also spoke with Courtney’s House Co-chair, Mike Gallagher.

They are both working in a bipartisan way to promote and drive the AUKUS agreements, including enabling legislation.

Building submarines is not a zero-sum game and it’s clear from my conversations that we can accelerate production if we can work together and attract people with the right skills.

There are many fellow travellers for AUKUS in Washington D.C. as I discovered.

This gave me confidence in the future of this partnership and that AUKUS offers a pathway to increasing our self-reliance.

This in turn will enhance Australia’s agency to pursue our interests independently.

And that is the essence of sovereignty.

Thanks Deputy Speaker.