Every now and then, it’s useful to stop and ask the basic questions. Questions like: How do submarines actually contribute to our national security?

Morrison’s China ‘strategy’ makes us less, not more, secure

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2021-09-19 01:30:04

Every now and then, it’s useful to stop and ask the basic questions. Questions like: How do submarines actually contribute to our national security? And now, it seems, nuclear-powered submarines at that.

The fundamental national security responsibilities of any government are to maintain our territorial integrity, political sovereignty and economic prosperity from external aggression. In Australia’s case, submarines form a critical part of a Defence Force designed to deter, disrupt or defeat military threats to our country.

When the Labor government I led prepared the 2009 Defence White Paper, we applied these disciplines to the challenges we saw for our national security to 2030. It was the first time since the 1960s that a white paper had named China as an emerging strategic challenge, for which the Liberals attacked me as an old “Cold War Warrior”. I made no apology despite Beijing’s deep objections.

Based on Defence advice, we agreed to double the conventional submarine fleet to 12 boats, increase the surface fleet by a third, and proceed with the acquisition of up to 100 Joint Strike Fighters.