This article is about the USMC basing in Australia and some other Defence White Paper things.
A few points:
-USMC basing will cost Australia around $1.6B for various facilities/support.
---This money will come from an already lowered Defence budget.
---How much effect would Australia have if it invested $1.6B into its' own Army?
-If this is so important, why doesn't Australia have more joint systems with the U.S? For example the Super Hornets and some other things are joint with the U.S. Navy and USMC. Instead of buying more Super Hornets, Australia could buy Yankee and Zulu helicopters and convert its' C-130J aircraft into KC-130J Harvest Hawks like the USMC.
-The Author mentions the importance of new Boeing P-8s but has not a clue of the value one can get from upgraded P-3s not unlike the kind New Zealand uses.
-Much of this white paper effort ignores the fact that if Australia was going to base U.S. forces, the better idea would be a base for Virginia class nuke subs to visit (re: item 6 in this post). These subs could rotate in and out. Not a fan of that? Nothing says regional deterrence like rotational tours for U.S. tankers and F-22s.
I do wish I could have confidence in the next Defence White Paper, and/or the people that compose it.
