Statement 1: Budget Overview (Continued)
Continuing our commitment to national security
This Budget reaffirms the Government's commitment to meeting Australia's national security challenges.
The 2011‑12 Budget invests in new defence capabilities. It also provides funding for Australia to continue its efforts in tackling global security challenges, including maintaining our presence in Afghanistan.
As part of ongoing reforms in Defence, new efficiencies have been found to add to those already identified under the existing Defence Strategic Reform Program. The Defence capital budget will also be reprogrammed to better align funding with the development and delivery of capability projects.
In addition, this Budget continues the Government's strong approach to preventing, deterring and disrupting people smuggling.
Contributing to global stability
Australia remains committed to global security through its contribution to international counter‑terrorism efforts. The Budget is providing $1.3 billion to support the defence force presence in Afghanistan, to help ensure that Afghanistan cannot again become a safe haven and training ground for global terrorism.
The Government is also continuing its commitment to regional stability. This Budget is providing $140.7 million to maintain Australian Defence Force (ADF) operations in East Timor and $44.1 million to continue Australia's contribution to ensuring stability in the Solomon Islands.
Capability building to meet our international commitments
The Government is continuing to upgrade ADF capabilities to ensure Australia remains well equipped to meet our international commitments.
- A Bay Class amphibious ship, Largs Bay, will be purchased and refitted at a cost of $177.4 million to significantly enhance the ADF's capacity to provide operational and humanitarian support in our region.
- Australia is also acquiring a new C‑17 heavy lift aircraft at a cost of $251.9 million. This will strengthen Australia's military long‑range heavy airlift capability including to support Australian forces in Afghanistan.
An additional $32 million will be provided for the establishment of an Australian Civilian Corps Rapid Deployment Fund to enable civilian specialists to be deployed overseas in support of stabilisation, recovery and development planning in the aftermath of natural disasters or conflict. By delivering civilian technical assistance quickly, Australia can help improve the prospects for stabilising and rebuilding the essential functions of government in affected countries.
Maintaining the integrity of Australia's borders
The Government has made significant progress in implementing its commitment to develop a Regional Cooperation Framework agreed at the recent Bali Process Ministerial Conference, and in this Budget will provide $292.3 million for this purpose.
The Government has agreed to enter into a groundbreaking cooperative transfer agreement with the Government of Malaysia to limit people's incentive to arrive in Australia by boat. Under this agreement Australia will transfer 800 irregular maritime arrivals (IMAs) to Malaysia for refugee status determination. In exchange, Australia has agreed that for every IMA transferred to Malaysia, Australia will receive five genuine refugees currently residing in Malaysia for settlement. This will be accommodated through an increase of 4,000 places in the Humanitarian Migration Program over four years.
This measure, along with other Government border security initiatives, are part of the Government's comprehensive approach of dealing with people smuggling by including countries in the region to deal with a regional problem.
Regional governments' capacity for migration and border management will be strengthened through the provision of $95.3 million for a range of activities including the identification of irregular migrants and the establishment of processes for return. This includes funding to enhance Australian Government cooperation with key regional government agencies to prevent and disrupt people smuggling.
The Government will maintain a strong surveillance presence in Australia's northern waters, including by extending the lease of the ACV Triton maritime patrol vessel and by continuing extra aerial surveillance in support of the detection and interception of people smuggling ventures. The Royal Australian Navy will also continue to patrol the northern waters as part of Operation Resolute.
An additional $107.7 million will be provided to maintain the Government's rigorous but fair asylum seeker processing system, including for scrutiny of refugee claims.
If www.budget.gov.au responds slowly or you are having trouble downloading a document, try one of the Budget Website Mirrors
Note: Where possible, Budget documents are available in HTML and for downloading in Portable Document Format(PDF). If you require further information on any of the tables or charts on this website, please contact The Treasury.
