The US derives great benefit from the location of Australia.
They have also derived benefit for many years from Australians underrating their own merits, capabilities and our very fortunate geographical location.
It’s all been win win for the US and a no win for us.

The future danger for Oz.is if the US rolls back into isolationist mode - or just withdraws from West Asia.
If that happens this big South Pacific aircraft carrier we all stand on might become surplus to requirements.
If that situation arises there do happen to be a couple of other emerging major players in the region other than China.
I’m sure at least one of them uses some Chinese equipment while another is kept off heat with the occasional fit of US kit.

Then meanwhile China has been waging an amazingly skilful economic warfare campaign in dime stores here and throughout the world.
We tend to buy just about everything off them while Australian industry founders and Australian money goes offshore.

Conventional warfighting -
Australia’s location makes it difficult to envisage sustaining defence on two fronts while the distribution of major cities renders successful territory denial pretty much a forlorn hope.
Clearly Oz. needs considerably more, and more capable, Naval and Air assets.
Since we need to provide Defence with the best equipment available to ‘fight the next war’ we might consider leaving AFVs to a lesser priority while funding UAVs and C4ISR capability.

Nuclear –
Who would “hit the tit”?
Most would agree that the only legitimate nuclear target is a nuclear aggressor.
To be a nuclear aggressor requires nuclear capability.
Is Perth not within strike radius of at least one nuclear nation?
Do we really want to push our luck?
Either Australia becomes accepted as indefencible at some time soon or we concede the reality that the choice of U-boats and aircraft is necessarily stretching our budget.
Meanwhile a little recognition of local industry might improve our capability.

It is difficult to project future Defence requirement.
The classic case, last century, was to deny any possibility of conflict for, say, five years ahead.
These days we need to rely upon ‘military intelligence’.
Some deny this as nothing other than an oxymoron.
Okay; we’ve had our fun.

While, as suggested my last, our industry capacity has been affectively neutered – how might we prevail at ‘homeland defence’?
Essentially, your guess is as good as mine.
More submersibles and multi-role attack aircraft cost heaps but at least afford a semblance of attack capability.
Wonderful stuff !

Problem is that dear old Oz. happens to remain an Island Continent.
The Brits used to know what that meant and forged an Empire on top of their paranoia.

My question goes – why can’t we do the same in our era? Doesnn’t mean that we have to be utter bastards the way the Brits were back in the ‘Age of Empire’.
Just, if you understand, guard our interest.

Now, to manage that we need indigenous industry.
Yep. And we need input from our troops to our industry towards streaming projects able to be manufactured and supplied to OzDefence from Australian business.

I’d like to hear favourable comments as to how that might happen.