Election 2022: Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton ramp up khaki campaign

Scott Morrison will on Friday announce a $428m upgrade of four key ADF air bases to support the rapid deployment of fighter jets and anti-submarine warfare helicopters.

RAAF planes at Amberley air base in southeast Queensland. Picture: RAAF

Scott Morrison will resume his khaki election campaign on Friday amid rising concerns over China’s security deal with Solomon Islands, announcing a $428m upgrade of four key Australian Defence Force air bases to support the rapid deployment of fighter jets and anti-submarine warfare helicopters.

The Prime Minister will travel to Amberley air base in the Labor-held southeast Queensland marginal seat of Blair to unveil major upgrades of RAAF and navy runways and airfield lighting.

The air base upgrades at Amberley, Richmond, Pearce and HMAS Albatross, to be completed by 2024, are key strategic planks in the government’s $270bn defence investment program, adding to the $1bn expansion of RAAF Base Tindal in the Northern Territory.

With three of the four bases in marginal Labor seats Blair, Macquarie and Gilmore, Mr Morrison will announce 600 new local jobs to be created when construction on the “critical defence airfield infrastructure” begins this year.

As China and Russia aggressively increase their influence in the Indo-Pacific and Europe, Mr Morrison said delivering technologically advanced, modern air bases would “keep our nation safe”.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton said the investment would build the ADF’s “critical capabilities” and provide fighter, transport and helicopter pilots with the “tools they need to keep us safe”.

“Upgrades … will ensure the men and women of the ADF can continue to provide the operational capability needed to keep our nation safe, whether that be Super Hornets and Growlers at Amberley, C-130 Hercules at Richmond, our pilot training at Pearce, or our Romeo helicopters at Nowra,” he said. “When Labor was in government, they neglected our defence base upkeep because of their cuts to the defence budget – down to the lowest level since before the Second World War – leaving our national security exposed.”

Mr Morrison, who will also visit small businesses in the Ipswich-based seat of Blair held by Labor MP Shayne Neumann on a 1.2 per cent margin, said having a strong economy meant “we can afford to invest in the defence and national security capabilities we need”.

“Our $270bn defence investment is keeping Australians safe, building our sovereign defence capabilities and creating jobs while securing a strong economy and a stronger future,” he said. Upgrades include runway and pavement improvements, new airfield lighting and electrical equipment.

Mr Morrison’s campaign shift to national security comes after Beijing sealed a secret security pact with Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare this week, and attacks from Labor over the government’s Pacific Step-Up foreign diplomacy strategy.

An increased presence of Chinese military and security personnel in Honiara has sparked serious concern among Australian, New Zealand and US officials, who despite months of lobbying and briefings with senior Solomons government representatives, failed to keep Beijing out.

The Defence Strategic Update released by Mr Morrison in 2020 warned “military modernisation in the Indo-Pacific has accelerated faster than envisaged (and) regional force modernisation has resulted in the development and deployment of new weapons that challenge Australia’s military capability edge”.

It warned the government to fast-track investment in new and enhanced facilities to “support and sustain the ADF”, including “significant enhancements for Australia’s air bases”. It said the ADF’s geographical focus must prioritise “the northeastern Indian Ocean, through maritime and mainland Southeast Asia to Papua New Guinea and the southwest Pacific”.