Katter demands increased defence spending in the north: “We’re unlikely to be fighting penguins in Antarctica… the threat is in the north”
KENNEDY MP Bob Katter has warned that Australia is ill-equipped to go to war, with the majority of defence assets concentrated in the southern portion of the country. The time is now to secure Australia's strategic defence ports.
As recently as late last week, Mr Katter held discussions with the Deputy Prime Minister, making representations for the new amphibious army fleet to be ported at Cairns and for final funding to be provided for the ship lift so that maintenance can be undertaken on Australia's naval vessels.
"Unless we are going to be battling the penguins of Antarctica, maybe we should cast our eyes north to where the threat is more likely," Mr Katter said.
"To go to war now is not only inconceivable but a catastrophic failure of defence planning that echoes the same fatal mistakes made in World War II.
"In the Second World War, our three armies were sitting in the Libyan Desert while the Japanese prepared to invade. Whether it was dereliction of duty or outright stupidity, it was the most damning judgement on a government in this country's history," Mr Katter said.
"They knew we were about to be invaded, and they sent two forward scout groups to meet the threat — 3,000 young men and the 49th Battalion. Half of them had never fired a rifle in their life. Our Air Force was so under-equipped it was a joke; the Wirraway had machine guns on the wings and no chance of taking on Japanese Zeros."
Mr Katter compared the current state of Australia's Defence Force to those dark days, saying the government's claims of readiness are farcical in the face of the growing international military capability.
"We have a minuscule Air Force — barely one percent of, say, China's. Our Navy has arguably only 10 ships capable of defending our country. Patrol boats don't count. They've got no serious armaments. Canberra has spent $40.2 billion on patrol boats and drones that don't carry a single missile. Not one of them can hurt anyone. What are they even for?" he questioned.
"The Chinese flotilla that did laps around Australia (earlier this year) was a quarter of the size of our attack fleet in the Navy. What does that tell you?"
Mr Katter said the country needed a real defence plan built around actual deterrents.
"A hundred ships. That's your bare minimum. A hundred vessels loaded with serious missile systems and effective delivery mechanisms. That is our palisade. Ever since man was man, he has put up a palisade around his camp — whether it was thorn bushes or fire at the mouth of his cave. That's what we need: a missile shield at sea, backed by onshore mobile artillery and a real guerrilla army on land."
Mr Katter said his eyes would remain squarely on the Queensland Government's Budget to ensure that decisions and funding were made to capitalise on the strategic advantage of the Cairns Port and other key military sites in the north.
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