Somewhat Disappointing

I have to be honest and say that I do find National’s defence policy somewhat disappointing.

I never expected a pledge to reinstate the air combat wing, as I knew it was near impossible to do after all the pilots have gone off overseas. Building a new new wing from scratch would be incredibly difficult. It was possible in 2002 after just two years, but five years after it was abolished it just is not possible to turn the clock back.

But what is disappointing is no specifics around funding increases. Spending at 0.9% of GDP is dangerously low (Australia is double that at almost 2.0%) and I would have liked to have seen a pledge to increase it by 0.1% a year over six years so by 2011 we are at 1.5% of GDP.