Excuse me, Mr. Minister, thank you for your answer. I heard your answer. Yes, thank you.
One of the myths that the government has been promoting is stable, increased funding for 20 years. However, in 2010, the freezes and cuts started. The reality is that between 2007 and 2014, an average of 23% of vote 5 funds were not spent, were deliberately clawed back. That's compared with an average under the previous government of 2% of funds being lapsed.
So can the minister explain why $8 billion of defence funding was lapsed while our military is left without adequate equipment, training cycles have been slashed, and inadequate mental health professionals have been hired to care for those wounded in Afghanistan?