New Defence Issues Paper

The New Paper outlines the following areas of concern for the future:

• What are the main threats to, and opportunities for, Australia’s security?

• Are Defence’s policy settings current and accurate?

• What defence capabilities do we need now, and in the future?

• How can we enhance international engagement on defence and security issues?

• What should the relationship be between Defence and defence industry to support Defence’s mission?

• How should Defence invest in its people, and how should it continue to enhance its culture?

It'll be interesting to see what the government does with the new White Paper given the extensive ambition of the last 2 WPs under Labor and their significant underfunding. 

One of the biggest issues remains whether Australia should build military hardware itself or buy it 'off the shelf' from other countries. 

If we are going to build things ourselves we still need to provide competitive pressures to avoid cost overruns, delays and incompetence. 

On the first point it will be interesting how the WP deals with the issue of China.