De-registered User wrote on Jul 10
th, 2013 at 8:17am:
What would you have all our troops do once they are back home?
How about an Australian
Defence Force that has a role of
defending Australia? Bring them home and get them ready to defend Australia. Might need them to actually do some defending in a few years - unless you think China will somehow evolve into the world's benevolent friendly superpower, and won't throw their weight around like all superpowers before them.
Instead of squandering away Australia's treasure on fruitless overseas adventures, let's spend every cent in the defence budget ensuring that our defence force will actually be capable of defence when the time comes that it is needed.
Foreign deployments cost the Australian taxpayer $1billion a year. To put that in perspective, a treasurer recently ripped away $700 million from single mothers in an attempt to produce a budget surplus. Why do we throw cash away on fruitless adventuring around the world whilst taking support away from the poorest here in Australia?
Foreign deployments do little for our economy and security. Add to this that being on the losing side in Afghanistan or the illegal side in Iraq does little to enhance Australia's prestige.
The real cost of deployments are not obvious because the compensations claims from returned soldiers suffering PTSD and whatever else are not factored into costs. There are many Australian children growing up without fathers because of these deployments.