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The Making of the
2009 Defence White Paper
Author: Patrick Walters
Volume 5, Number 2 (Winter 2009), pp. 1-10.
Abstract
This article examines the key drivers that informed the Rudd Government’s new blueprint for Australia’s defence, including the political, strategic and financial settings. Kevin Rudd’s firm views about the changing power balance amongst the Asia-Pacific region’s great powers, led by the rise of China, have ensured that this unfolding strategic shift has already had a decisive impact on Australia’s planned defence force in 2030. The production of the 2009 White Paper, the fifth since the landmark 1976 document, comprised a much broader review of Defence activity than has usually been the case. It included the commissioning of eight internal companion reviews, an intelligence capability review, and a defence procurement review, together with a separate comprehensive audit of the Defence budget by an external consultant. Hard challenges will lie ahead for Australia’s defence establishment if it is to deliver the more potent defence force envisaged in Force 2030.
About the Author
Patrick Walters is The Australian newspaper’s National Security Editor and senior writer on defence issues. He spent five years in Indonesia in the mid-1990’s as The Australian’s inaugural Jakarta correspondent and was the paper’s Canberra bureau chief from 1998 to 2003. He has written widely on Australia’s defence and regional security issues since the early 1980’s. From 1988 to 1993 he was senior private secretary and senior adviser to the Hon Kim C. Beazley across three ministerial portfolios including Defence. waltersp@theaustralian.com.au.
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