Deputy Speaker,

I rise to pay respects to the designers and advocates of the Bushmaster, our great infantry mobility vehicle that has saved countless Australian lives.

The Bushmaster was used in the Afghan and Iraq wars and ADF soldiers saw it as crucial to their survival when faced with Improvised Explosive Devices.

After his Bushmaster drove over one, Mark Donaldson VC said, “If it weren’t for the bushmaster, I wouldn’t be here.”

When travelling in Kabul in 2017, I felt very safe travelling with Australian soldiers in a Bushmaster.

Mr Deputy Speaker, the Bushmaster would not have seen the light of day without committed people including Mr Chev Vivier, Chief Engineer at Thales, who introduced the Bushmaster’s life-saving V-shaped hull, and without Lt. Col. (Rtd) Mark Eggler, ADF program manager and senior systems engineer, who is with us today.

Mark was involved in 2000-2003, a critical period when Defence seriously considered dropping the project, and we thank you for your efforts and the lives saved.

I’m proud that the PM and Deputy Prime Minister recently announced that our government will send Ukraine 90 Bushmasters.

They are not invincible but they save lives.

Thanks Deputy Speaker.