Minister for Defence - Interview with Celine Foenander, ABC Radio Gippsland, Victoria

JOURNALIST:

A new military training centre at the East Sale RAAF space has been opened this morning by the Federal Defence Minister Senator David Johnston who joins me. Good morning Senator, welcome.

MINISTER:    

Good morning Celine thank you for having me.

JOURNALIST:

Tell me about this centre that is opening today.

MINISTER:    

CAE is an Australian simulation company that provides flight simulators to various platforms across the RAAF and today we are opening a flight training centre involving simulation for the King Air 350 - which is a very important aircraft in training for navigators and other flight training for the RAAF. Now, the reason simulation is so important is that we don’t stress the airframe – we actually fly an aircraft at the desk, doing all the emergency work without putting anybody at risk. And you might think that doesn’t work very well as people know there is no consequence, but when you watch pilots sweating at the controls of the simulator you know that it is doing its job.

JOURNALIST:           

How significant is this investment at a regional base like East Sale and looking at the implication of that training for pilots from a national level, how significant is that training to what Australia plans to do with its defence?

MINISTER:    

Well as we go forward aircraft, aerospace assets, the actual operational functionality of the RAAF is utterly dependent on the skill and training of the pilot at the controls. Now, East Sale is a really important part of that cycle. People in the RAAF travel from all over Australia to come here and do their flight training and to progress their careers onto fast jets, heavy lift aircraft and so on. This is a really essential and vital part of producing cutting edge pilots that defend Australia and dominate our region. So East Sale is really crucial and important to us.

JOURNALIST:           

CAE is a private company that has put significant investment in this facility – what has the Government investment been?

MINISTER:

Well we have given them a contract for about $14-15 million for five years for flight training and this model is one of the first models where the RAAF has simply said ‘as a commercial entity you provide us with complete training.’ Now in addition to RAAF training, CAE tell me they are going to bring foreign nationals here to Sale from all over the world, and largely from our region, to do their simulated flight training. So I am expecting people from the Middle East, South East Asia and other places to come here to Sale to learn on this simulator. That is how good this system is and of course, from my point of view I can’t sing their praises highly enough. Because it isn’t just for the RAAF it is an international capacity that is going to see the Gippsland promoted internationally. I think people will come here who have never been here before, or who have never been likely to come here so I think it is a big win-win across the board.

JOURNALIST:           

I don’t want to sound alarm bells, but when you say that there will be a foreign military coming here to train there will be a level of community concern about that, especially when you have said Middle East. Knowing that there is trouble in the Middle East, trouble in a lot of these countries, is that concern warranted?

MINISTER:    

Look we have good friends in the Middle East, we have a base in the Arab Emirates, and I’m talking a handful of flight trainers and pilots, I’m talking South East Asia, I’m talking Singapore, etcetera.

Now I don’t think there’s any reason for alarm, I think there’s a lot of reason for celebration because I think the Gippsland will get a chance to promote – and I must say I love coming here, it is a fabulous corner of Australia-

JOURNALIST:           

When did you last come here?

MINISTER:    

I think I was here just before the last election. I mean Darren Chester is a good mate of mine, he’s my Parliamentary Secretary, I’m really over the moon that my Prime Minister has chosen him to be my Parliamentary Secretary.

I love coming down here, as a West Coast Eagles fan I get a chance to argue with his staff about who they support – they’re all Collingwood supporters, you’d be pleased to know that Celine I’m sure – and accordingly it’s a bit like home for me coming to the Gippsland.

So I’m optimistic when I see regional employment that is more than just the RAAF, it’s international people, it’s a flight training centre that has some universal application, I’m really excited about it and that’s why I’ve travelled down to be here today to do the opening.

I think the model’s a good one, it’s a fabulous opportunity for Sale and the Gippsland more broadly.

JOURNALIST:

Considering government money is tight, how much commitment financially will your government be giving to regional bases like East Sale?

MINISTER:    

Well you know I would love to give an enormously big commitment, but can I tell you the legacy that I have inherited is a very sad and sorry one. I mean we have a capital programme that runs out 10, 15, 20 years, it’s in absolute disarray because we’ve lost $18 billion over the last four years, so my portfolio has-

JOURNALIST:           

But surely that money has gone towards Australia supporting our international conflict.

MINISTER:    

No, no, no, that money has come out of the Defence portfolio and gone into other things. Now we are the only portfolio in the last four years that stumped up anything like that sort of money, so our capital account is in complete disarray and you know may I say the task that I am confronting with the Prime Minister is to rebuild and restructure from the foundations up our capital account in Defence.

See we plan these things 10 and 15 years out and once you rip a big chunk of money out - as anybody who understands a net present value calculation knows - we’re in a lot of trouble doing that, so rebuilding a Defence White Paper in 18 months, 2% of GDP in 10 years is our promise, these are challenging promises but ones that we seek to live up to and to benchmark the Defence Force against.

JOURNALIST:           

So have you put a halt to spending now?

MINISTER:

Well the Prime Minister has said thankfully ‘no more cuts to Defence’ and of course-

JOURNALIST:           

Does ‘no more cuts’ mean no more new spending?

MINISTER:

Well I don’t think we’re going to be any orphan on no more new spending, I think we have a trajectory that we have inherited to about $670 billion worth of debt, accumulated deficits of $123 billion, I mean if the terms of trade for Australia turn bad we’re in a lot of trouble.

Now the point about this is that we have been told and the Prime Minister has said – and I am very grateful to him for it – ‘no more cuts to Defence’. Now I can also keep the money that I can save, so if I can urgently restructure the way we do our business I can keep the savings, now that’s a huge thing for Defence and bases like Sale will be the beneficiary of that.

JOURNALIST:           

Will bases like Sale then have to rely more on private investment like CAE?

MINISTER:    

Look I think doing things smarter and more cost effectively is exactly what we’re talking about, so that when I sit with the service chiefs and we plan what we’re going to do in important areas like training we’ve got to be cost effective and we’ve got to watch every dollar, now this is a huge challenge and it keeps me awake at night, but this is what we’ve got to do and this model may I say is I think the beginning of bigger and better things.

JOURNALIST:           

How long will you be able to carry the level of funding and spending that you have at the moment in terms of replacing key infrastructure and key equipment, whether that be ships, planes, how long will the current fleet have to be the way that it is now?

MINISTER:

Well the first thing we’ve got to do is have a feasible, viable, affordable plan. Now that’s why the White Paper on the strategy side is pretty straightforward in my opinion, but the funding of the Defence Capability Plan that gives us the way forward to make sure that the Australian Defence Force is regionally dominant and interoperable with our major ally.

The Plan will come out within 18 months of last September, that’s the hard part for me, getting the money and resources to match what we need to do in terms of capability.

When that Plan is put on the table you’ll then see the ordered way in which we go forward with the capability matching the resources available, which we haven’t had before.

JOURNALIST:           

Senator Johnston thank you for your time.

MINISTER:

Thank you Celine, it has been a pleasure.

JOURNALIST:

Enjoy your trip to Sale.

JOHNSTON:  

Always.

JOURNALIST:

Senator David Johnston who is the Federal Defence Minister and will be in a short time, five minutes or so, be opening a new military training centre at the East Sale RAAF base.