PROMOTERS of a major defence force base in the Pilbara will be disappointed with a progress report from the expert panel preparing the Defence Force Posture Review, released this week by Defence Minister Stephen Smith.
While the report recommends some improvements to armed forces capability in the state’s north-west, it suggests that Australia’s military presence in the area is largely adequate.
Some in Western Australia, backed by national demography expert Bernard Salt, want to see a major base located in the Pilbara for both military and economic reasons.
Military insiders have been less enthusiastic, largely due to the challenges of permanently basing a big number of personnel in an area that is difficult to service and unattractive to families. They also worry that after coaxing their highly trained professionals to the area they could lose them to high paying jobs in the resources sector. They would be , in effect, depositing a source of much sought-after skilled labour right in the laps of people hungry miners and LNG plant operators.
That view appears to have been backed by the report overseen by an expert panel comprising two of Australia’s leading national security experts, Allan Hawke and Ric Smith, both former Department of Defence secretaries.
The report recognises many of the strategic changes in the Asia Pacific and Indian Ocean regions that need to be addressed in defence planning, but believes most likely threats are best addressed by other arms of government such as the police, customs and counter-terrorism services.
The report also outlines that the Australian Defence Force’s presence in the north west, along with these other agencies, is greater than is recognised, due in part to being a constant but largely transient array of air, sea and army patrols and exercises.
“Despite this level of activity across the north as a whole, the review has found a widespread perception in the resource sector and local communities in the north-west that there is insufficient ADF presence,” the report said.
The report acknowledges that an enhanced and more visible presence in the north-west is warranted as a deterrent and to reassure the Australian community that this vital region is adequately protected.
As a result the report suggests some improvements in access to key WA ports such as Exmouth, Dampier, Broome and Port Hedland would be helpful, as well as enhancing the Learmonth air base.
The report suggests increasing the prominence of the Stirling Island naval base, including upgrading the rank of its commander from captain to commodore.
