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BONUS: Truth Bombs: the Greens’ new Defence policy & Vic Socialist criticisms

🕑 Added 2025-04-03 12:15:01 +0000 UTC

Comments

Daniel

I like it. The Greens looking at what it would actually take for Australia to defend itself from a threat instead of conceding the defence policy space to AUKUS. The notion of a "plan b" to AUKUS is very mainstream, especially now, and with this policy based on "The Echidna Strategy", Greens don't sound like naive ideologues in pushing for it. I could even see it being influential in the next parliament. More broadly I think Ukraine showed we need a plan for defence from a larger aggressor, when diplomacy doesn't cut it. The Australian Greens have been great on Ukraine and the need for it to defend itself. Uphold the idea that big countries can't grab land off their neighbours just because they spend enough on a military. I can't say the same for other Green parties, left wing thinkers and organisations. My hope is in defence policy we think about what we can do in this country that is good for us now, which could also be pivoted in the event of conflict - dual use industry capabilities, well trained emergency services personnel, and so on. I say that as a social democrat Greens hack. I have a lot of respect for VS as a force to our left that keeps us accountable on policies, demanding good explanations, without hurting us (thanks to the preferential voting system). Importantly, we don't sound like Labor - admitting VS are to our left is a bridge too far for some ALP hacks RE the Greens.

Charles

All the thought experiments regarding a left military aside, any argument for why this investment is useful? The billions going towards drones and missiles is a drop in the ocean compared to many a military, so why spend it? This is why it comes across as an electoral thought bubble aimed at placating critiques from those to the right of the Greens as opposed to a substantive effort to organize "self defense".