Radio Interview, 6PR Perth Radio

SUBJECTS: Defence Workforce Plan; Overseas Made Electric Vehicles.

GARY ADSHEAD, HOST: Okay, let's go to Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel Minister Matt Keogh who joins us on the line. G'day, Matt.

MINISTER FOR VETERANS’ AFFAIRS AND DEFENCE PERSONNEL, MATT KEOGH: Hey, Gary, good to be with you.

ADSHEAD: I do have to get your response to that though. I mean, this suggestion that, you know, it came out in the Senate hearing that one of your colleagues drives an EV. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, Chinese made electric vehicle, should he be?

MINISTER KEOGH: Well, I think the important thing here is that, you know, Tony's received the advice from our security agencies and acted appropriately and in accordance with that. I mean, we all carry around mobile phones as well, Gary. We've all got to be conscious of how these devices can be used in an espionage sense and behave accordingly. That's what we provided advice on by security agencies and we act in accordance to that advice. And James Paterson knows that.

ADSHEAD: It does seem a bit weird though, doesn't it, that your car might be the target of espionage?

MINISTER KEOGH: Well, I think it's part of the modern world. We've got all these devices that are connected to the internet for various reasons. We talk about the ‘internet of things’ and that's true in households. People have got Alexas and all sorts of devices in their homes now that are listening to other things. And that's something that we as people involved in the senior levels of government, especially Ministers involved in the security agencies or in Defence, we need to be conscious of those matters and we take the advice of our security agencies, as I think people would expect, and act in accordance with that.

ADSHEAD: Alright. Are you driving an EV at the moment, Matt, or are you staying on -

MINISTER KEOGH: I am not.

ADSHEAD: OK. Alright. Hey, yeah. Let's talk about the 2024 Defence Workforce Plan. This is all about recruitment and retention. What sort of things are on offer?

MINISTER KEOGH: So, the workforce plan covers a number of issues, as you mentioned, workforce retention, recruitment, also wellbeing and culture in the Defence Force. And in particular, along with the workforce plan being released today, we're announcing a $600 million investment in extending and expanding our Continuation Bonus for Defence Force personnel, which is about retaining people in the Defence Force and having them serve longer in the Defence Force, as well as expanding the operational reserves by 1000 personnel through to 2030.

ADSHEAD: So, you talk about the bonus that's paid, that's sort of after a certain period of time, if they've stayed with the service, done the right thing, they get a bonus.

MINISTER KEOGH: That's right. So, last year we started a two year programme of a Continuation Bonus where once you'd finished your initial service obligation from when you'd first signed up to the Defence Force, if you signed on for another three years, we would pay you a bonus and we're going to be extending that continuation bonus going forward. The other thing though we're doing is expanding that. So, if you're around that seven to nine year mark, so you've already done your initial obligation of service and you've already served three years on top of your initial obligation, you'd be eligible then if you sign on for a further three years to get another bonus. And that's really targeted at the middle rank area where we've seen over time a hollowing out of those ranks and we need to keep people in service. At the moment, the average time in service is about seven years. We need to get that up closer to 12. So, by extending the existing Continuation Bonus programme, but expanding that for that seven to nine years of service, to sign on for another three years, we're looking to keep more people in Defence, but also have them serve for longer.

ADSHEAD: And it's like it's a decent whack. It's about 40 grand, is that right?

MINISTER KEOGH: It is $40,000 for each of those bonuses, that's right.

ADSHEAD: That's pretty good. Can I just ask you, in terms of the, I mean, what sort of targets do you have in terms of growing our Defence Force? Not just retaining, but growing it at the moment, you know, given the times we're living in.

MINISTER KEOGH: Absolutely. So, given the times we're living in, we did the Defence Strategic Review, which led to the National Defence Strategy, along with the Integrated Investment Programme earlier this year, and that set out the sorts of capabilities, the ships, the submarines, the aircraft, the land forces, the missiles that we need to be operating across our Defence Force, those capabilities. And the Workforce Plan is about matching our workforce to those capabilities. So, at the moment we've got about 59,000 Defence Force members and we need to see that grow to 69,000 by the early 2030’s. So, that's what this Workforce Plan is about creating. So, it's, as I said before, keeping people in service for longer as well as growing the Defence Force in terms of our recruitment into the Defence Force.

ADSHEAD: Ok. Now just on another matter, your sparring Partner right here on 6PR. Of course, Andrew Hastie. He's had a crack at the way that the Australian government has abandoned, he says the $7 billion programme to create these Australian military grade satellite communications systems being cancelled. Why did you do it?

MINISTER KEOGH: Well, we're moving to a better technology that's available quicker and cheaper. And that's what I think people would expect that we do as a government that's very conscious of the geostrategic circumstances that we're confronted with. You know, I like Andrew, but he does seem wedded to older technologies and older ways of doing things. And we need to make sure that we're delivering the most modern and importantly resilient capability going forward. What that programme previously was about was only having a small number of satellites, which meant they're vulnerable. When you're only relying on a small number, we're looking at moving to a different system which is more resilient and we can deliver quicker and cheaper.

ADSHEAD: So, faster, better, cheaper. How long though, before you'd actually see it?

MINISTER KEOGH: So, we'll be seeing it on an earlier timeframe than what was going to be delivered from the previous programme. That's important in how we are able to do that, because one of the really important things about these technologies and why it's important that we're using the most modern and up to date technologies, of course, is we're trying to deliver the most modern and up to date technologies on our fighter aircraft, on our submarines, on our ships, on our land forces, on our guided weapon systems. And so we need all of those things to integrate well together.

ADSHEAD: All right. Well, on the basis of that, as I go through the Melbourne Cup sweep that we have in front of us here right now, I'm going to give you a horse, Minister. I hope you don't mind. Is this appropriate for me to sort of nominate a horse for you?

MINISTER KEOGH: Do I get a choice, Gary?

ADSHEAD: No. Well, you don't. James Paterson got one. James Paterson got, and don't laugh, but James Paterson got Trust in You. And given your promising to deliver this new satellite system quicker, I'm going to give you Warp Speed.

MINISTER KEOGH: All right, I love that. Go with all the trickies.

ADSHEAD: All right, Warp Speed. That's all yours, mate. Good luck with it. I know you guys are working through the Melbourne Cup today, so I hope someone lets you know. Hope someone lets you know who won.

MINISTER KEOGH: Someone send me a text, let me know how it goes. Gary, appreciate it.

ADSHEAD: Thanks for that, Minister. Appreciate it.

MINISTER KEOGH: Cheers, Gary.

ENDS