Defence Policy for Australia

Nothing more satisfying than being an armchair expert on the defence strategies for Australia.
This week the PM has issued a strategy following the White Paper and pundits are all abuzz about it.
The issue seems to be the threat of China. Is China a threat to Australia? How much of a threat is China? etc etc. And what went through my mind is WTF? Are these pundits serious?

Firstly lets compare the two countries. Australia has a population of 22 million and China has over 1 billion or more. Any serious contemplation of a defence strategy against China is a joke. A combined allied defence strategy which would include Europe/US and possibly Russia might be a more realistic scenario.

On the other hand there is a real threat to Australia from Indonesia which is our closest neighbor of any significance (sorry Papua New Guinea). In fact half of PNG is controlled by Indonesia.
Lets make another off the cuff comparison with Indonesia having an estimated population of over 300 million versus Australia's 22 million. Did any pundit mention Indonesia in their defence analysis? No way. Indonesians are far too sensitive to this type of discussion. In fact it doesn't take much to upset the Indonesians so the less said about them the better.
Oh, one final point to remember, Australia has had a history of placating the Indonesians when it comes to foreign policy. You only have to look at the history of how Australia has bent over backwards so as not to offend Indonesia when there were troubles in East Timor, a Christian country by the way, and how Australia tends to look the other way when atrocities are committed against the East Timorese by Indonesians. Of course, another aspect that nobody cares to mention is that Indonesians are Muslims.
At this point I think I can hear a knock on my door as the Federal Police race to arrest me for speaking the unspeakable...

Now back to Mr Rudd's defence strategy which favors a strong Navy.
Makes sense if you're a country like Australia with a coastline larger than any other country in the world.
A naval invasion would theoretically be thwarted by twelve new vessels. Yeah, dream on. Maybe they consider the threat to come from illegal immigrants and fishing vessels.


What are the strategic advantages of invading Australia?
Coal, iron ore, uranium, wheat.
What does the White Paper specifically considers a threat?
Illegal fishing of our coastal waters and terrorism.

It seems that Australia's only real defence strategy is a close alliance with the U.S.A and the deployment of it's defence forces in assisting the U.S. as required to sustain this alliance of good will. Any other strategy is purely delusional.
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