Well, thank you, Michael. But most of all, thank you to all of you for being here.
What an incredible crowd.
I'm so proud that I can be here with you today, with colleagues from across parliaments, from across parties, all united against this rotten decision.
Now, can I say, I am here, you are here, we are all here to protect our heritage.
I am here, you are here, we're all here because we cherish our history.
And I'm here, and we're all here because we want to see our nation defended.
And we know this incredible facility behind us predates Federation, from the colonial era.
But over the course of the nearly 200 years that we've had it, it's played a role in leadership, in training, in recruitment of our war fighters and their supporters, across wars that we fought throughout that time period - First World War, Second World War, Vietnam War, Korean War.
It's been there, and it's played that absolutely crucial role.
But this Defence Minister and this Prime Minister don't get it.
They don't understand the importance of the history.
They don't understand the role that heritage plays for our warfighters and our defence force.
And they don't understand the importance of defending our nation at this time.
And that's why I say hands off Victoria Barracks!
To have so many from across parliaments, Kellie Sloane, it's brilliant to see her here today from the opposition at the state level.
It's brilliant to see all uniting behind this cause, except, of course, for the Prime Minister. Except for the Prime Minister.
Now, we won't stand by and watch a fire sale of this place. We're going to fight it all the way.
We're going to fight it all the way.
And we know we have Australians with us.
We know that because over 120,000 have already signed a petition against this fire sale. And after today, we want it to be more.
Go out, tell your friends, tell your family, your cousins, you name it, your neighbours, your work mates, tell them to sign up. James Paterson, Jess Collins, and others have had this petition going.
Let's get it to 200,000. Let's get it to 200,000.
Now, someone said get to a million. I'm with that. I'm with that. I'm with that.
Now, we're going to have to keep fighting.
We're going to have to keep fighting.
And we are fighting for our defence force at a time, the most dangerous time since the Second World War. You know who said that? The Defence Minister.
Well, live it. Live it. And we know the reason they say they're going to do this is because they've run out of money.
A trillion dollars of debt.
Well, this is chump change compared to what Jim Chalmers is spending right now.
So, let's hold on to Victoria Barracks.
So, if you want to see our heritage protected, can I hear you?
If you want to see our history cherished, can I hear you?
If you want to see our nation defended, can I hear you?
Let's do it. Thank you very much.
