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High regard

November 27, 2000

HMAS JERVIS BAY… her success in the East Timor operation demonstrated the value of this type of vessel.
While many in Defence considered there to be a declining public appreciation of the uniqueness of the "Profession of Arms", consultation outside Defence revealed a high regard in the Australian community for the work of Defence's men and women, the Chief of the Defence Force and Secretary for Defence said.

CDF,Admiral Chris Barrie, and the Secretary, Dr Allan Hawke, said this in response to the release by the Minister for Defence, Mr John Moore, of Australian Perspectives on Defence: the Report of the Community Consultation Team in Canberra on November 9. They addressed findings emerging from the community consultation process and the Defence consultation process which ran in parallel.

The feedback from both teams is contributing to formulation of the Defence White Paper to be released next month.

The Community Consultation Team was led by former Liberal Minister, Mr Andrew Peacock, and included Dr David MacGibbon, Mr Stephen Loosely and MAJGEN Adrian Clunies-Ross.

They visited all states and territories, held 28 public meetings attended by more than 2000 people and considered more than 1100 submission on Defence

The Defence Consultation Team comprised author of the Defence of Australia 1987 strategy document, Professor Paul Dibb, and retired senior Air Force strategist, AVM Brendan O'Loughlin. They toured and took submissions from all major Defence establishments.

The key themes emerging from the Community Consultation Report showed the majority of Australians support:

  • the defence of Australia as the ADF's first priority;
  • an increase in Defence spending;
  • a better resourced ADF that has a balanced force structure and is properly equipped;
  • the ADF being able to undertake significant operations within our region; and
  • our alliance with the US and continuing efforts to strive for as much self-reliance as possible within the context of the alliance.

Personnel, funding supported

· HMAS ANZAC… the class of frigate in itself did not provide an adequate replacement for the destroyers.
"The consultation process revealed broad community consensus on fundamentally important defence issues," Defence Minister Moore said. "Most Australians see the ADF's primary role as the defence of Australia by a defence force that is professionally trained, combat-ready and technologically advanced.
"While this is the overriding concern for most people who contributed to the process, there also is strong support for the ADF to have the ability to undertake peacekeeping missions, particularly in our near region."

Mr Moore added there appeared to be broad public support for an increase in funding for Defence, '…provided Defence itself demonstrates an ability and willingness to manage its resources in an efficient and accountable manner'.

"As Minister for Defence, I am especially pleased to note the community's very high regard for the men and women of the ADF, and in particular their pride in the way they have done their job in East Timor and Bougainville," he said.

ADM Barrie and Dr Hawke said an important finding of the DCP was that many in Defence considered that there was a declining appreciation of the unique character of the "Profession of Arms".

"The White Paper will provide an opportunity to address that perception," they said. "In addition, a number of specific and closely related concerns on the Commercial Support Program (CSP), training resources, retention, recruitment, pay and conditions which go to the heart of longer-term force sustainability and job satisfaction were raised."