Does it seem to anyone else that we are in election mode?
In reality, we are always in election mode but both sides seem receptive to ideas at the moment so how about we revisit the extra 58 fighter jets Tony ordered in his first flush of having the keys to the Treasury.
In 2002 John Howard went to the United States and signed Australia up in the early stages of development of the Joint Strike Fighter.
In 2009 it was a Labor government that ordered the first 14 of the aircraft for Australia.
In April 2014 Tony Abbott announced Australia would acquire another 58 Joint Strike Fighters at a cost of around $90 million per plane; $24 billion has been budgeted to purchase and operate the aircraft until 2024.
And while we are at it, do we really need 12 new subs?
In February the Defence Minister said the project will be worth around $50 billion.
Has anyone noticed that we don’t have long range bombers and aircraft carriers either? If we really want to do undersea work wouldn’t it be better done by robot craft/drones for a far smaller cost?
Wouldn’t subsidising the car industry to make low emission cars, building high speed rail, installing FttP NBN, and investing in renewable energy and sustainable practice all bring more jobs and a better return than war toys? The shipyards could build research vessels or hospital ships or cargo vessels – you know, constructive things.
Wouldn’t lifting people from poverty and investing in health, education, and affordable housing be of more benefit to our society?
Wouldn’t investing in childcare and aged care be better than investing in warfare?
Research and foreign aid are surely more important?
Come on Malcolm…think of all that extra money. Think of the jobs that could be created. Scott…you could be a hero. Can we please consider this very easy way to solve so many problems?
