Business leaders welcome chance for ‘tremendous reset’ of relations with Beijing
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The acting prime minister and defence minister, Richard Marles, last night spoke at the Sydney Institute, revealing some of his thinking after receiving the interim advice from the defence strategic review.
Marles said:
Gone are the days of simply paying the entry price to obtain our guarantee from our security guarantor. The world and our region is far too precarious for that. We will have to be willing – and capable – to act on our own terms, when we have to. Crucially, for my portfolio, this will mean ensuring that the military arm of national power is match fit.
Australia’s defence capabilities cannot match those of major powers. Australian statecraft is only viable if it is underpinned by the ability to project force and power: to deter military threats, and defend Australia’s national interests within our immediate region.
And so I believe the cornerstone of future Australian strategic thought will be
impactful projection. We must invest in targeted capabilities that enable us to hold potential adversaries’ forces at risk at a distance and increase the calculated cost of aggression against Australia and its interests. And we must be able to do this through the full spectrum of proportionate response.
If we are to grow the defence budget, then in the same breath we must also open up defence spending to scrutiny. The Defence Strategic Review will inevitably foreshadow some difficult decisions. As we think about how we reconfigure our Defence Force for a very different strategic environment inevitably we will have to make some hard choices. But the very process of exposing the defence budget to scrutiny and criticism is exactly what will provide the licence for the defence budget to grow in the way it must.
Today the reality is Defence faces greater challenges to recruit, retain and grow its workforce than we have for decades. The ADF is almost 3,000 below its allocated force strength. The Department of Defence is more than 1,000 below its budgeted size. In part the defence establishment is simply experiencing the demand for labour which is being felt right around the country. But it also has to do with ensuring that Defence’s recruitment reflects the way young Australians approach their careers and that within this context the Defence offering is competitive. What is completely clear is that urgent action is required if we are to respond to our more challenging strategic environment. Because right now we have a defence personnel crisis.
Five years ago, Australians said YES to marriage equality. They said yes to love, fairness and acceptance. It’s a bittersweet day for our communities – both a landmark moment in our national history that has brought great happiness to 36,000 people and their families, and a reminder of a divisive and unnecessary public debate about our lives and our families … We’ve come a long way as a society in the last five years, but there’s so much more to do. Still today, many of us face discrimination at school, in our workplace or when accessing services. Violence against people in our communities still happens and the opponents who lobbied against marriage equality have shifted focus, doubling down on their attacks on trans and gender diverse people in Australia.
The YES vote meant more than simply saying yes to same sex marriage, it was also saying yes to all the LGBTQ+ kids out there that they are just as much a part of society as everyone else, and that all of us are equal no matter who we love. Australia is at its best when we embrace all of our differences. We are better and stronger together. And that’s what the YES vote did, it brought us all together – not only in spirit but also in law …
The YES, What’s Next? pledge is a rallying cry to political leaders across the country to build a more fair, equal and just society by ending conversion practices, ensuring trans people are fully equal, protecting LGBTIQ+ students and staff from discrimination in religious school, and protecting intersex people from harm.
Continue reading…Business leaders welcome chance for ‘tremendous reset’ of relations with BeijingGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastThe acting prime minister and defence minister, Richard Marles, last night spoke at the Sydney Institute, revealing some of his thinking after receiving the interim advice from the defence strategic review.Marles said:Gone are the days of simply paying the entry price to obtain our guarantee from our security guarantor. The world and our region is far too precarious for that. We will have to be willing – and capable – to act on our own terms, when we have to. Crucially, for my portfolio, this will mean ensuring that the military arm of national power is match fit.Australia’s defence capabilities cannot match those of major powers. Australian statecraft is only viable if it is underpinned by the ability to project force and power: to deter military threats, and defend Australia’s national interests within our immediate region.And so I believe the cornerstone of future Australian strategic thought will beimpactful projection. We must invest in targeted capabilities that enable us to hold potential adversaries’ forces at risk at a distance and increase the calculated cost of aggression against Australia and its interests. And we must be able to do this through the full spectrum of proportionate response.If we are to grow the defence budget, then in the same breath we must also open up defence spending to scrutiny. The Defence Strategic Review will inevitably foreshadow some difficult decisions. As we think about how we reconfigure our Defence Force for a very different strategic environment inevitably we will have to make some hard choices. But the very process of exposing the defence budget to scrutiny and criticism is exactly what will provide the licence for the defence budget to grow in the way it must.Today the reality is Defence faces greater challenges to recruit, retain and grow its workforce than we have for decades. The ADF is almost 3,000 below its allocated force strength. The Department of Defence is more than 1,000 below its budgeted size. In part the defence establishment is simply experiencing the demand for labour which is being felt right around the country. But it also has to do with ensuring that Defence’s recruitment reflects the way young Australians approach their careers and that within this context the Defence offering is competitive. What is completely clear is that urgent action is required if we are to respond to our more challenging strategic environment. Because right now we have a defence personnel crisis.Five years ago, Australians said YES to marriage equality. They said yes to love, fairness and acceptance. It’s a bittersweet day for our communities – both a landmark moment in our national history that has brought great happiness to 36,000 people and their families, and a reminder of a divisive and unnecessary public debate about our lives and our families … We’ve come a long way as a society in the last five years, but there’s so much more to do. Still today, many of us face discrimination at school, in our workplace or when accessing services. Violence against people in our communities still happens and the opponents who lobbied against marriage equality have shifted focus, doubling down on their attacks on trans and gender diverse people in Australia.The YES vote meant more than simply saying yes to same sex marriage, it was also saying yes to all the LGBTQ+ kids out there that they are just as much a part of society as everyone else, and that all of us are equal no matter who we love. Australia is at its best when we embrace all of our differences. We are better and stronger together. And that’s what the YES vote did, it brought us all together – not only in spirit but also in law …The YES, What’s Next? pledge is a rallying cry to political leaders across the country to build a more fair, equal and just society by ending conversion practices, ensuring trans people are fully equal, protecting LGBTIQ+ students and staff from discrimination in religious school, and protecting intersex people from harm. Continue reading…