FISCAL MADNESS OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT

News Item:

“Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is set to announce Australia's biggest military build-up since World War II. The Weekend Australian says it will include a multi-billion-dollar investment in maritime defence, including 100 new F-35 fighters, a doubling of the submarine fleet, and powerful new surface warships.

It says the new defence white paper will outline plans for a fundamental shake-up of Australia's defence organisation to ensure that the nation can meet what the prime minister sees as a far more challenging and uncertain security outlook in Asia over the next two decades.”.

The white paper will consider the emerging non-traditional threats to Australia, including cyber security, climate change and its associated risk of large uncontrolled people movements.

Senior government sources say Mr Rudd has insisted that defence spending remain largely insulated from the government's budget difficulties, but the Defence Department will still have to find at least $15 billion of internal savings over the next decade to help pay for the $100 billion-plus long-term equipment plan.

Mr Rudd and Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon are expected to release the long-awaited white paper as early as next week, with the more detailed 10-year defence capability plan due to be published by mid-year.”


My Comment:

Australia is not in any immediate danger that would warrant such extravaganza in these difficult times. Over the last few decades, Australian armed forces have only been misused in miscalculated American adventures, such as Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq, to mention but a few.

Such mad spending can only help the American arms industry and hurt Australian economy. It will not create any new jobs in Australia or help its ailing industry. Australia's foreign debt topped $1 trillion in the March quarter of 2008, as the nation borrowed at record levels from the rest of the world to finance its spending habits.

Australia would be better off if a fraction of this money is spent on building large dams in wet states and pipelines to transport water to other dry states. This would help the economy and create thousands of jobs. It would help irrigate thousands of hectares, in order to increase agricultural produce and export opportunities. It would end for good all water restrictions and the danger of running dry in the southern states. It would negate the need for costly desalination of sea water in the future.

But can you expect any such sense from a man like Mr Rudd and his misguided government? We can only expect war mongering about Iraq and Afghanistan. We can only expect sickening propaganda about “terrorism” and impending dangers, which according to Mr Rudd's logic, or lack thereof, would justify supporting US arms industry at the expence of all struggling Australians.