At the heart of the Albanese government’s navy overhaul is a fundamental risk assessment: Australia does not face the prospect of a major conflict in the Indo-Pacific by the end of the decade. Or if such a conflict does erupt, it will be fine for the Australian navy to sit on the sidelines, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.
That’s because despite headline-grabbing promises to double the navy’s fleet of warships, the fine print of the announcement is less attractive. In the short term, the navy’s already meagre surface fleet is shrinking.
