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CANBERRA - Australia's Labor Government has launched reviews of the nation's defence force that could see the scrapping of major projects - including strike jets and helicopters - and the emergence of new strategic priorities.
The first major rethink of the roles and capabilities of Australia's military since
the turn of the century will begin with an inquiry into air combat capability to 2045, to be rolled later into a much broader white paper.
This will include developments in regional security since the September 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States, the primacy of the US in Australian defence planning, and the increasing weight of military commitments in the neighbourhood.
Canberra will also reverse the former Coalition Government's drift away from the United Nations, urging the US to help shift the organisation back to the centre of international affairs.
"We see multilateralism and co-operation in the global community as our starting point," Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said.
The reviews follow massive investment in hardware by the previous Government, including American Abrams tanks, large amphibious ships and air warfare destroyers, huge Globemaster transports, F/A18 Super Hornet strike jets and the planned purchase of a fleet of F35 joint strike fighters.
They also follow bungled and delayed acquisitions that have cost taxpayers billions of dollars, ranging from the Navy's Collins class submarines and upgrades to guided missile frigates, to the fleet of Seasprite helicopters that after six years have still not entered service.
Also central to the white paper will be the growing problem of recruiting and retaining troops, including a new emphasis on attracting women and Aborigines - both identified by Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon as significantly under-represented in the military.
And new emphasis will be placed on drawing defence planning into a much broader whole-of-government approach, including diplomacy and development aid.
Canberra is already preparing to withdraw its combat troops from southern Iraq although other support units, patrol aircraft and warships will remain in the Gulf - and is re-thinking its role in Afghanistan.
Fitzgibbon has expressed the Government's concern that the failure of Nato-trained Afghan Army units to hold ground against a resurgent Taleban, prompting him to foreshadow a greater role in training local forces by Australian troops.
But while firmly committed to operations in Afghanistan - where about 1000 special forces, a reconstruction task force and other troops are at present deployed - Canberra does not intend to increase its presence.
"We wouldn't even consider increasing our troop numbers or our resources while ever-underperforming Nato countries refuse to do more," Fitzgibbon said. In the immediate region, Australia remains mired in East Timor, where troop numbers are back up to about 1000 after the attempted assassinations of President Jose Ramos Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.
In Opposition, Labor criticised the former coalition Government for placing greater emphasis, planning and resources on distant deployments such as Iraq, rather than on the arc of instability extending across its north from Fiji to Southeast Asia.
The immediate focus will be the air power review, which will initially assess combat requirements to 2015, including the feasibility of keeping the RAAF's force of F-III strategic bombers flying beyond 2010.
The previous Government planned to retire the bombers and replace them with a A$6.5 billion ($7.48 billion) fleet of 24 Super Hornets to fill the likely gap between the demise of the F-IIIs and the delayed arrival of the planned JSF.
Labor and many defence analysts have been critical of this decision because of both the cost and claims that the Super Hornets will be less capable than new fighters entering service with other regional air forces.
"I've made it clear that in the end, if the advice comes to me from the review that the Super Hornet is not up to the job, I would have no hesitation in cancelling it," Fitzgibbon said.
Fitzgibbon has also said he may finally axe the Navy's A$1 billion Seasprite helicopter programme because of continuing problems.
