Doorstop Interview – Hyde Park, London

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
Doorstop Interview
Hyde Park, London
November 11, 2025

SUBJECTS: Remembrance Day; Defence spending and capabilities

MATT KEOGH, MINISTER FOR VETERANS’ AFFAIRS AND DEFENCE PERSONNEL: So we've just had the traditional Australian Remembrance Day service here in London. And it's been my great honour to be able to participate in that service here with representatives of our defensive community here in the UK, which is obviously quite considerable through our engagement with AUKUS and other programmes, but also veterans and family members who are here in the United Kingdom coming down to participate in this service here in the UK. They have their main commemoration for Remembrance Day on Cenotaph Sunday, but we continue to have our own Australian service here on Remembrance Day as well at 11 a.m. on the 11th of November. An important part of how we, as a nation, as part of the broader Commonwealth, remember those that made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, not just in the First World War, but in all of the wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations that have come since. And we remember not just those who died, but remember those who were injured, bearing both physical and mental scars, as well as commemorating the service of all of those who have put on the Australian uniforms, so through so many operations around the world, it's an important day for us to reflect. It's important a day for us to reflect on the cost of war and why that is something that we always seek to avoid, but must always be prepared for as well. Certainly in our relationship with the United Kingdom here, one of Australia's, of course, longest ever relationships, but one certainly strengthened by fighting alongside each other. in so many different conflicts, but one where we've taken that relationship to a whole new strategic level, through the AUKUS agreement between the United Kingdom and Australia together with the United States. And that's been a key part of my visit here over these last few days, not just to participate in the UK's official commemorative programme as well as Australia's here, but also to engage with the UK system as part of our office engagements, as well as our support, for Ukraine, through Operation Kudu, with the Australian Defence contribution to training Ukrainian soldiers here in the United Kingdom. I've already met with the First Sea Lord and done a visit to Plymouth to look at their operations there, where they undertake submarine sustainment for the United Kingdom. Something that we are ramping up in terms of our nuclear, sustainment capability in Australia right now, where we are providing that sustainment capability for a United States Virginia class submarine, which is in Western Australia at the moment, building those skills as part of our pathway towards operating our own nuclear propelled submarines. And, of course, being able to see the work that they do at Plymouth is part of that work that they do in the United Kingdom, is an important part of working towards what we will need to continually expand in developing that capability in Australia as well. Any questions?

JOURNALIST: The outgoing national RSL president has had a go at Labor's lack of a grand strategy when it comes to defence. Do you think Defence personnel are feeling like they have a strategy in the climate that we're currently in?

MINISTER KEOGH: One of the key things we did when we were elected in 2022 was conduct the Defence Strategic Review. And through that, we announced the National Defence Strategy, beginning of 2024. That will be a biannual process, so we've got another one of those updates that will come early next year. That's been a really important piece of work in terms of setting for Australia's approach to its national defence, not just in terms of what we do with the Defence Force, but also how we engage in our statecraft through the region and around the world. And it's made a clear set of priorities, in terms of our focus on our region, where we face some of the most complicated set of strategic circumstances that we've had to confront as a nation since the Second World War. But also prioritising those partnerships around the globe, like the one here in the United Kingdom, as well as the United States, in making sure that we are best prepared for what Australia may ever need to confront. So I think we have sent a clear strategic correction, and you've seen here in the United Kingdom, that they did their own strategic defence review as well, when they came into government, to make sure that there is that clarity of thought and prioritisation of developing capability, and that's what we have been doing as a government.

JOURNALIST: Is it quite embarrassing that Greg Melick felt like he had to say something on Remembrance Day to get Labor or the Prime Minister to [inaudible]?

MINISTER KEOGH: I think it's actually probably not the thing that we should be focussing on on a day like Remembrance Day. But what we really see, when you look at what we've actually done as a government, is that we've done the process, we've done the work in terms of the Defence Strategic Review, and announcing the National Defence Strategy, and making sure that there are regular updates to our investment programming capability, making sure that we are delivering on a clear strategy for defence. And I encourage everyone, including the former president of the National RSL, to make sure that they're across all of those documents and what the Government is actually doing.

JOURNALIST: It was out of line?

MINISTER KEOGH: That might be your position.

JOURNALIST: You mentioned the Defence Strategic Review. That review noted quite prominently that the time to expected conflict has shortened dramatically in recent times. However, there have been numerous reports recently about defence conducting an austerity drive, cutting people from sustainment programmes on the air, F-35s, moving and redeploying staff in order to lower costs to fund AUKUS. Is the government doing enough to make sure that AUKUS is funded and our immediate capabilities are not jeopardised?

MINISTER KEOGH: So what you've seen under this government has been a real commitment to strategic investment in our Defence Force. And that means not just AUKUS, but it means making sure that we're funding the priority capabilities that we need. When we came into government, what we discovered was that there had been a lot of media releases with great headlines, but no funding to the actual capability that was required. So doing the Defence Strategic Review, making sure that we were prioritising the right capability, is incredibly important. And that's been buttressed, not just in terms of investment, in the physical capability, in terms of equipment, but also making sure that we are investing in our most important capability, which is our people. And we're seeing that pay dividends now, where we're seeing recruitment increase, and we had our biggest ever improvement year, last financial year, for the last 15 years. But also that we are saying the separation rate from the Defence Force is now below our long term historical average. So we're seeing the Defence Force now growing in for the first time in a number of years, which is a critical part of delivering on the outcomes from the Defence Strategic Review, to make sure that we have not just the physical capabilities, whether that's our future nuclear-propelled submarines, whether that's in the land domain, but also importantly, cyber and space. But also that we have the human capability to deliver on those important domains. And we've seen that through the recent opening up of being able to do direct recruitment into our nuclear submarine roles, as well as direct recruitment into new space related roles as well.

JOURNALIST: You say that defence is growing, and that's fantastic. But aren't you still worried that taking people off key programmes on the F-35 sustainment programme, risks diminishing the short term capabilities in the Defence Force?

MINISTER KEOGH: So what's really important about what we are doing in investment is we are making sure that we are prioritising it. The acquisition of key new capability as well as sustaining our existing platforms that we need to operate into the future. And that investment has been made, and we've seen over the course of this government, significant increases into our investment, capability acquisition, and sustainment, as well as ongoing work to make sure that we do that in a more timely and efficient way.

JOURNALIST: Regarding the coalition of the willing, [inaudible] yourself as Minister for Defence Personnel. Has Australia been asked for, or is Australia considering, boots on the ground for a reassurance force for the coalition?

MINISTER KEOGH: So, we're certainly engaged in discussions around what that coalition is going to look like and what engagements have that made involve. But we have not taken any decisions around what they will necessarily look like, going forward with two of those engagements and liaison, to make sure we understand what the formation of what's been proposed looks like. But I'm not going to comment on what the nature of the content of those ongoing discussions are, but we...

JOURNALIST: Why not?

MINISTER KEOGH: Because they are discussions that have made, but it's not helpful to canvass. You're going to have pretty different options, but other (indistinct) necessarily putting on the table. But I just have one other point. Today is an important day of commemoration and reflection, and we reflect on those that have given their life and service to our country, as well as those who have been wounded. And we acknowledge the contribution of everybody that was put on the Australian uniform. I think that people across the nation will be disappointed to have seen that there was a protest on Remembrance Day at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne by a group of people supporting an ideology that Australians fought and died in defending against that ideology during the Second World War. And I think people were disappointed to see that sort of protest occurred at the shrine. Thanks.
 

Open Arms – Veterans & Families Counselling provides 24/7 free confidential crisis support for current and ex-serving ADF personnel and their families on 1800 011 046 or the Open Arms website. Safe Zone Support provides anonymous counselling on 1800 142 072. Defence All-Hours Support Line provides support for ADF personnel on 1800 628 036 or the Defence Health Portal. Defence Member and Family Helpline provides support for Defence families on 1800 624 608.