{"id":86420,"date":"2024-04-12T06:00:49","date_gmt":"2024-04-11T20:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=86420"},"modified":"2024-04-12T15:46:13","modified_gmt":"2024-04-12T05:46:13","slug":"a-central-bank-concept-for-defence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/a-central-bank-concept-for-defence\/","title":{"rendered":"A central bank concept for defence"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

Australia\u2019s military weakness in an increasingly threatening regional environment requires that serious consideration be given to setting up <\/span>a <\/span>defence strategy and <\/span>procurement body that operates <\/span>with <\/span>the same independence as <\/span>the central bank.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The board of the Reserve Bank of Australia gained independence in setting monetary policy in 1996 because the government of the day recognised that adjustment of interest rates should be free from political temptations. National defence, even more important than monetary policy, should similarly be kept at a distance from politicians who have their eyes on electoral prospects. Moreover, the country needs an organisation for defence <\/span>strategy <\/span>and acquisition that is more streamlined than the military establishment constituted by the <\/span>Department <\/span>of Defence <\/span>and armed services.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>strategy and procurement <\/span>body should issue public advice on how much <\/span>money should be spent on defence. Then, after the government <\/span>decides on <\/span>an amount, the<\/span> same<\/span> independent organisation should decide how the funds are spent, listening to but not taking instructions from the armed services.<\/span> And it should execute programs with a leaner staff than the current <\/span>procurement <\/span>organisation, <\/span>the department\u2019s <\/span>Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

T<\/span>he capability of the Australian Defence Force <\/span>is inadequate for facing the rising challenge presented by China<\/span>. <\/span>T<\/span>he late <\/span>senator and <\/span>g<\/span>eneral Jim <\/span>Molan<\/span> said <\/span>in 2021<\/span>: <\/span>\u2018<\/span>We lack self-reliance in strategic industry, spare parts and reserves, and we lack resilience if things don\u2019t immediately go our way. <\/span>\u2026 <\/span>Even in five years, the ADF will not be strong enough, big enough nor able to fight for long enough against a peer opponent<\/span>.\u2019<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Consider the deterioration in our circumstances, <\/span>especially <\/span>China\u2019s gain in military strength in the Indo-Pacific relative to the United States. This means <\/span>it is risky to rely on <\/span>our traditional <\/span>policy <\/span>of sticking close to a great and powerful friend in the expectation that it <\/span>will <\/span>rescue us if we <\/span>get <\/span>into serious trouble. We must be ready to defend ourselves.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But <\/span>e<\/span>xperience suggests that neither the <\/span>armed services <\/span>nor the defence bureaucracy <\/span>is <\/span>capable of <\/span>the<\/span> rapid changes in thinking and action that are <\/span>needed<\/span>. And <\/span>governments are not <\/span>sufficiently focu<\/span>sed <\/span>on defence, as illustrated <\/span>by <\/span>slowne<\/span>ss in <\/span>submarine acquisition<\/span>. A<\/span> process <\/span>to introduce new submarines <\/span>first emerged in the 2009 defence white paper<\/span> but is <\/span>not <\/span>now expected to <\/span>get even one <\/span>replacement <\/span>boat <\/span>into the navy\u2019s hands <\/span>before <\/span>2032.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is inconceivable that a<\/span>n independent and focused panel of experts would have allowed that <\/span>program to drift so long.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In another <\/span>example,\u00a0<\/span>a project to build missiles in Australia was announced in 2020<\/span> but<\/span> won\u2019t <\/span>make <\/span>anything until 2025, and then only <\/span>in what looks like pilot production.\u00a0<\/span>Acquisition of Hunter<\/span>–<\/span>class frigates, meanwhile, is running years behind schedule, in part because of a<\/span> confused process that the department itself has admitted to.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If an <\/span>independent strategy and acquisition body spent the defence budget, <\/span>the process would be <\/span>freed <\/span>of such political considerations as feeding money into marginal electorates. Politicians would be deprived of opportunities to make grand acquisition announcements\u00a0<\/span>that they need not actually put into effect or might execute only slowly.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For <\/span>example<\/span>, the <\/span>former <\/span>government decided to <\/span>build warships at <\/span>a <\/span>slow but steady pace in Adelaide<\/span>, <\/span>and now the current government wants to do so in Perth as well. <\/span>The policy<\/span> ensure<\/span>s<\/span> that shipyards provide steady employment<\/span>, to the satisfaction of local voters<\/span>\u2014<\/span>and <\/span>also<\/span> that the fleet will not be <\/span>expanded <\/span>as quickly as it might <\/span>have been <\/span>with a<\/span> crash <\/span>building <\/span>program.<\/span> An independent strategy and acquisition body might well <\/span>have chosen to move faster.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before the introduction of the <\/span>2020 defence strategic update<\/span>, the defence establishment worked on the premise that Australia would have a 10-year window in which to prepare itself for a significant military threat. The situation has now changed dramatically<\/span>, and we cannot continue with the processes and organisations that <\/span>have repeatedly <\/span>deliver<\/span>ed<\/span>\u00a0mediocre performance or outright failure. <\/span>A radical <\/span>overhaul of the system is needed.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Australia\u2019s military weakness in an increasingly threatening regional environment requires that serious consideration be given to setting up a defence strategy and procurement body that operates with the same independence as the central bank.\u00a0 The …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1949,"featured_media":86424,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[17,38],"class_list":["post-86420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-australia","tag-department-of-defence"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA central bank concept for defence | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/a-central-bank-concept-for-defence\/\" \/>\n<meta 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