Defence Minister Peter Dutton is good at garnering headlines, but “very terrible” at preparing Australia for war, according to Labor Senator Murray Watt.
“Anyone can make comments like Peter Dutton’s, but he and every other defence minister in this government have demonstrated that they are totally incapable of actually preparing Australia for war and ensuring our defense capabilities is what it should be,” he added.
Mr Dutton had previously warned Australia that it needed to prepare for war.
Mr Dutton told media, “The only way to preserve peace is to prepare for conflict and to be strong as a country, not to cower, not to be on bended knee and be weak, that’s the fact.”
Senator Watt, the shadow minister for Northern Australia, told media that Labor differs from the Coalition on defense by doing more than “making pledges and making announcements.”
“We actually deliver,” he continued, “and that’s where this government has failed so miserably.”
“They’ve made all kinds of promises, all kinds of statements, and they like to use big words, but when you look at what they’ve done, they’ve actually made the country less safe under their watch – through poor management of our relationship with Pacific nations and by failing to deliver the defense capability that our country requires.”
