We discuss the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and Australia’s reasons for jumping in so quickly in support of the US.
But first some words on yet another assault on transparency by the government scrapping the ANAO’s annual review of major Defence projects. Ministers Marles and Conroy will be delighted that an important source of scrutiny has been removed – as will the Defence bureaucracy.
As for sending a Wedgetail and AMRAAMs to the UAE, it looks like the government was spooked by a 1am Truth Social post by President $Trump – this move by an Australian Prime Minister previously proud of the ALP’s 2003 decision not to support the US invasion of Iraq.
As for the current air campaign against Iran – it could get much worse and it’s not at all clear that the government has thought this through.
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Absolutely Australia needs to move Heaven and Earth to save those tax dodgers … err I mean expatriots living in the UAE. They deserve our full protection even though they don’t actually pay anything towards maintaining our defence forces.
My thoughts exactly.
Thanks again, Kym. Always something to think about in these podcasts.
To me, there are two issues emerging from the Gulf. (1) Australia needs to redefine its strategic relationships to be genuinely regional and multi-lateral, rather than US centric. If there is any case for Australian forces to be sent to the Gulf, it can only be as part of a multinational response that would involve the consent of Iran. Think a constabulary role. (2) We are way behind where we need to be in drone strategy – offensive and defensive. Local industry has a lot to offer in this regard, but I wonder to what extent they have been included in developing an Australian capability.
I agree on both points. There’s a lot of scope for alternate alliance arrangements – for example, both France and South Korea have made it clear that they are very interested in strengthening ties, only to be ignored by our Washington-obsessed Defence establishment (Ministers included). We ignore massed drone attacks to our peril. Even the mighty USN will not go through the Straits of Hormuz because while they have an arsenal of SM-2, SM-3 and SM-6 missiles they have no real defence if Iran managed a swarming attack of dozens of small aerial and sea surface drones – and they know it. Australia has several companies also capable of mass producing AI-enabled drones but the services – with the partial exception of the RAAF – still seem stuck in the previous century with Abrams MBTs and tiny numbers of large surface ships.