It is a dismal document. Defence argot and clunky phrases present what is little more than portentous persiflage – where it is not just self-serving.
The breathless opening sentence tells us that there is no greater responsibility for the government than defending Australia.
But what does that mean?
The second sentence explains it: the government is committed to “deploying all elements of national power” to protect our security, interests and way of life.
Nowhere are any of these concepts explained. What is national power? How much of it does Australia have? How does Australia use it? Is it just armed force? What is security? What are our interests? What is our way of life? Did anyone ask the First Peoples? What about climate?
The document ends with the same sort of logorrhoea. It announces a biennial NDS cycle that “provides a structured basis to regularly evaluate and prioritise efforts to maintain a more lethal ADF that is capable of credibly holding potential adversaries at risk – including as military forces modernise and strategic challenges continue to evolve”.
So there you are: everything’s quite clear! And we know where the next iteration of Australia’s defence strategy might take us. The US now talks about “integrated deterrence” (whatever that means). It is just a matter of time before the Australian echo sounds. We are already on the way to an “Objective Integrated Force”, whatever that might be.