Mr Ross Cottrill
Visiting Fellow, Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy, ANU
- It was a mistake to use the threat of China as rationale for delivering on the wish list in the Defence White Paper. It was also a mistake for the White Paper not to put far more stress on the importance/opportunities for further defence collaboration in Southeast Asia.
- It is easy to talk of an arms race in Asia/Pacific, as has been done from time to time, but it can be a self-fulfilling prophecy, and should not be used to exaggerate the significance of reasonable modernization, meeting security needs.
- White Paper authors should always remember the need to talk softly to our neighbours, and this was certainly not done in the way this White Paper deals with China.
- Why then did the government really support this ambitious military wish list? Traditionally, the Australian Labor Party has tended to win public support on the issues of health and education; the Coalition tends to attract support for its handling of the economy and security. The Rudd government sees the White Paper as an attempt to take ownership of security away from the Coalition.