Abbott backs away from drone plan
Plans for a major drone industry hub in South Australia have taken a hit after the Coalition backed away from a long-standing promise to buy long-range unmanned surveillance drones.
Launching the Coalition’s defence policy during a visit to Holsworthy army base outside Sydney, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said decisions on buying complex technical equipment could not be made from Opposition.
“The advice we get is that there may be better ways of doing it than Global Hawks,” he told reporters, referring to the drones.
“That’s why we have stated out support in principle for going down this path, but we are not making a specific commitment at this time.”
Global Hawk is a large pilotless surveillance aircraft which a former Coalition government defence minister committed Australia to buy in 2004.
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In March, InDaily revealed the drones were likely to be based at Edinburgh Air Force base in South Australia. The fleet was planned to be in place by 2020.
The State Government and local defence industry hoped the drone fleet would allow Edinburgh to become a major hub for drone repair industry, as well as housing training facilities for drone pilots.
In its 2010 defence policy, the Coalition committed to speedy acquisition of three Global Hawks “to regain control of our borders”.
TheOopposition’s new defence policy also says the coalition remains committed to acquiring the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, but Mr Abbott indicated that commitment is not absolute.
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He said responsible adult oppositions don’t make irrevocable commitments to multi-billion dollar projects without all the information.
“We want to see it happen but the commitment is subject to final advice in government – should we win – from the CDF (Chief of the Defence Force General David Hurley) and the other experts,” he said.
Abbott said a Coalition government would make no further cuts to the defence budget which under Labor has fallen to 1.59 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), the lowest level since 1938.
He said within a decade defence spending under a Coalition government will be two per cent of GDP.
Based on the current defence budget of $25.4 billion in 2013/14, that equates to a budget exceeding $32 billion by the middle of next decade.
Abbott also committed a Coalition government to a series of reviews and decisions.
It will commission a new Defence White Paper and appoint a high-profile team to conduct yet another review of the Defence Department.
Abbott said his government would look to deepen Australia’s alliance relationship with the US.
“We will always be looking for opportunities to usefully contribute and we will always be open to requests to more useful contributions,” he said.
“We want to be the best possible partner for the US and our other allies.”
– additional reporting, Liam Mannix, InDaily
