Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Education) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, my question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Defence, Senator Bob Carr. I refer the minister to the Gillard government's budget decision to cancel the purchase of Samsung Techwin's LAND 17 self-propelled howitzer from South Korea in order to save $225 million. How does the government reconcile this dishonourable cancellation with the Australia in the Asian Century country profile, which states:

In the future, the Australian and South Korean armed forces will have built considerable mutual understanding and interoperability, making us more effective in joint operations and better equipped to respond to emergencies and regional disasters. South Korea is likely to continue to develop as a significant regional supplier of military equipment and will look to Australia's high-technology armed forces as potential buyers.