Former Defence Minister Linda Reynolds reveals new career plans
After three decades in the army and a stint as the Defence Minister that was suddenly cut short, WA Senator Linda Reynolds is preparing to return to a career in service.
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Linda Reynolds is preparing to return to a post-politics career in defence after her time as defence minister was cut short amid the Brittany Higgins rape allegations.
News Corp can reveal the veteran – who served for three decades in the army before becoming a senator – will focus on working in the defence space after she leaves parliament on June 30.
“I’m taking a short break but I remain passionately committed to the defence of our nation,” she said. “My life has been about service.”
She said her post-politics career will be “service related” and she was passionate about ensuring the AUKUS security pact with the UK and US is delivered on schedule in her state of Western Australia.
“I continue to engage heavily with strategic think tanks here and overseas,” she said.
She joins former prime minister Scott Morrison, who has found a career in defence lobbying post-politics.
Ms Reynolds, who was the first woman in the Australian Army Reserves to be promoted to the rank of brigadier, was stood down as defence minister in the aftermath of her staffer Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations.
Then prime minister Mr Morrison told a defamation trial the “sole reason” Ms Reynolds was removed from the defence portfolio was “because of the severe injury she suffered as a result of the attacks applied to her over a prolonged period”.
Ms Reynolds has remained private about her post-politics plans until now, and has been selective about weighing in on Australia’s growing defence debate despite her expertise in the area.
The former cabinet minister said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese needed to increase Australia’s defence spending.
“I have long understood Australia’s need for defence expenditure to be well over 3 per cent of GDP,” she said.
“The real question is not if we should spend more, but how it is spent, and how quickly – i.e. how do we get best bang for our buck.”
Asked if Australia should bow down to US demands to up our defence budget from 2.3 per cent to 3.5 per cent, she said: “It is in Australia’s national interest to be significantly increasing our military capability, but the real question for Australians now is what threat are we preparing to deter?”
In a blistering assessment of Labor’s handling of AUKUS, which was the brainchild of the Morrison Coalition government, Ms Reynolds said the government was the biggest strategic threat to AUKUS.
“The greatest strategic risk to AUKUS is the Albanese government’s implementation inaction and billion-dollar funding gaps across the Forward Estimates,” she said.
“I’m still engaged with former US and UK colleagues and they are increasingly alarmed.
“Time has not quite run out, but decisions need to be made now and sufficient funding provisioned.”
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Originally published as Former Defence Minister Linda Reynolds reveals new career plans
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