IN FEBRUARY of last year news broke that the Australian Defence Department had committed to the purchase of 12 attack submarines from France's Naval Group.
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At the time this was Canberra's biggest ever defence procurement project.. A commitment was made to paying 50 billion Australian dollars to France's state-backed Naval Group for these 12 new military submarines.
There is a concern that by the time they are delivered they may well be obsolete.
This pales into insignificance when we hear news now that the Prime Minister is considering spending a further $270 billion dollars on defence over the next 10 years - including $800 million in missiles from America.
These figures are hard to visualise so just for context, this $270 billion would be the same as:the cost of the following:
- 153 'state of the art' hospitals
- Making higher education free for millions of Australians, or
- Maintaining the rate of JobSeeker to keep recipients living above the poverty line.
At this time of economic uncertainty due to COVID-19 and the immense economic cost of this, surely this decision to spend this vast sum on defence is highly questionable.
We need to ask ourselves where is the threat coming from that would necessitate this level of defence spending?
The suggestion is being made that the defence spending package by the Australian Government is to ensure we are in a position to support America should there be a threat to America from China at some point in the future. Have we not supported enough American wars in recent times?
Would we rather have spending on addressing social and community needs or defence procurement at this very critical point in time when our financial reserves are stretched to the limit due to COVID-19 spending?
Marlene Griffin, Valla Beach
Nambucca a treat
IN RESPONSE to your recent article on the COVID-19-related work of Professor Dan Nicolau:
Dan actually held a workshop on mathematical modelling in Nambucca Heads in late October last year. Along with Future Fellow Professor Michael Bode, senior financial risk manager Jason Bartlett, and former Defence analyst Ben Cowen, Dan and I discussed theoretical aspects of biological modelling, some of which informed his models for the spread of Coronaviridae.
We chose Nambucca because of its relaxed, fresh atmosphere and easy access to beautiful shores, and spent many a great evening immersed in scientific discussion and the cooking of large quantities of meat.
We would like to offer our gratitude to the town and its inhabitants for kindly hosting us, and highly recommend it for the physical basis of any scientific retreat.
Ruairidh McLennan Battleday BMBCh (Oxon) MA BSc
Rein in finance industry
FAILURE by government to ask why the finance industry was regulated after the Great Depression has put Australia in a vulnerable position. We have no car industry, no steel industry, no rolling stock, no shipping, no aircraft and little food canning industries.
The treasurer needs to look at what Pres Roosevelt in regulating the finance industry said: "The more they hated me the more I knew I was doing the right thing."
