{"id":58045,"date":"2020-08-06T06:00:34","date_gmt":"2020-08-05T20:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=58045"},"modified":"2020-08-05T17:44:32","modified_gmt":"2020-08-05T07:44:32","slug":"labor-misses-opportunity-to-offer-new-perspectives-on-australias-defence-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/labor-misses-opportunity-to-offer-new-perspectives-on-australias-defence-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"Labor misses opportunity to offer new perspectives on Australia\u2019s defence policy"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

In a major address at the National Press Club on Tuesday, shadow defence minister Richard Marles doubled down on the Australian Labor Party\u2019s criticisms of Australia\u2019s troubled future submarine program<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The address was teasingly billed as a rare moment of departure from the conventional bipartisanship of Australian defence policy. In comments widely picked up by the media<\/a> before the address, Marles argued that the government\u2019s handling of the submarines project has \u2018profoundly compromised\u2019 Australia\u2019s national security.<\/p>\n

Those were strong words, clearly intended to pack a political punch. This was Marles\u2019s first major speech as Labor\u2019s deputy leader, and opposition leader Anthony Albanese watched on from the socially distanced audience. A Victorian, Marles had obtained a one-night-only health exemption to be in Canberra, a Covid-related hurdle he noted was important to jump since opposition engagement on defence issues is vital to our democracy.<\/p>\n

Given this political investment, the speech was a lost opportunity to challenge or offer new perspectives on Australia\u2019s strategic environment and defence policy settings.<\/p>\n

Marles noted that Australia faces its most complex strategic circumstances since World War II, echoing Prime Minister Scott Morrison\u2019s talking points<\/a> at the July launch of the defence strategic update. But he did not use the Press Club platform to provide further reflections on the assumptions, policy shifts or future force structure outlined in that significant report.<\/p>\n

Like the prime minister, Marles sees the Covid-19 pandemic as an \u2018accelerant\u2019 for regional instability and indeed reflected that \u2018Covid has created questions to which there are no answers\u2019. But he chose not to give guidance on what these known unknowns might be.<\/p>\n

Instead, in the long tradition<\/a> of defence policy debate by opposition politicians of all stripes, Marles chose to narrow his take on Australia\u2019s future national security to the economics of capability acquisition (how much will it cost, when will it be built, and by whom).<\/p>\n

Even then, he constrained his critique mainly to historical issues. A \u2018negligent\u2019 contracting process with French shipbuilder Naval Group plus cost blowouts and time delays has put Australia\u2019s national security \u2018between a rock and a hard place\u2019. Rather than canvassing options, risks and trade-offs for charting a course through the horns of this dilemma, the address echoed the seemingly bipartisan assumption that the submarine build should continue\u2014just over-budget, and late.<\/p>\n

As Andrew Carr<\/a> has argued<\/a> for some years, Australia\u2019s default to bipartisanship on defence matters discourages policy creativity and accountability.<\/p>\n

We also have a national obsession with defence budgets and military kit\u2014a focus that sees discussion about strategic means overshadow dialogue about our strategic ends and potential ways for achieving them.<\/p>\n

Thousands of pages of reports and Hansard records examine the ins and outs of the army\u2019s Land 400 acquisition, the tortured air force F-35 process, and the navy\u2019s submarine and future frigate programs\u2014to take some recent examples. But debate about the merits of these particular capabilities relative to others, and how they contribute to Defence\u2019s mission, or indeed Australia\u2019s broader national interests, is comparatively feeble.<\/p>\n

The other widely reported aspect<\/a> of Marles\u2019s address was his criticism of \u2018muscular language\u2019 on China by some government MPs. This, he said, has \u2018done nothing to improve Australia\u2019s strategic circumstances\u2019. In later clarifying that he was referring to commentary by backbenchers, rather than official statements, Marles again fell into a common pattern in Australian defence debates: playing the fringe, rather than the substance. There was no real engagement with last week\u2019s Australia\u2013United States ministerial consultations<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Marles\u2019s comments on backbencher commentary also raise an important question about the role of diversity and contestability in Australian defence debates. He suggested that MPs and senators under a Labor government would sing from the same songbook on defence and foreign policy, a practice he thought previous governments of all persuasions had been better at enforcing.<\/p>\n

But do we want public debate about defence matters to be framed only by ministerial talking points? Whatever one\u2019s views of the \u2018wolverines\u2019<\/a> (the self-styled cross-party group Marles was critiquing), there are broader principles at stake here. At its best, parliamentary government is not a game between homogenous blocks of blue, red and green, but a genuine contest of ideas.<\/p>\n

Indeed, particularly in complex and uncertain strategic circumstances\u2014where adaptation, creativity and courage are important\u2014leadership often comes from below and behind, and politicians outside the executive can lead needed change. For example, opposition politicians and backbenchers played a role in UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson\u2019s U-turn<\/a> on allowing Huawei equipment in the country\u2019s 5G infrastructure. In both the UK<\/a> and the US<\/a>, bipartisan committee reports have powerfully called out the government of the day for failing to recognise and respond to Russian interference in democratic elections.<\/p>\n

In the 21st century, defence policy issues, unlike submarines, cannot be submerged or silenced. Strategic competition between countries increasingly affects citizens<\/a>, and Australians will need to be engaged in important national conversations about what we are prepared to defend, how and at what cost.<\/p>\n

A more open and robust\u2014if at times messy\u2014democratic dialogue about Australia\u2019s strategic circumstances and policy options can bring Australians along as we make choices which will have generational significance and\u2014importantly\u2014help ensure we get these tough decisions right.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a major address at the National Press Club on Tuesday, shadow defence minister Richard Marles doubled down on the Australian Labor Party\u2019s criticisms of Australia\u2019s troubled future submarine program. 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