Erin Molan: As the world goes mad, it’s time to take threats against us seriously

With Defence Force numbers dwindling, the Federal Government needs to take measures to enhance our capability to ward off any potential threats, writes Erin Molan.

This week we learnt that our Defence Force has shrunk to its smallest size in seven years.

Let me put that into some kind of perspective for you. We have just over 57,000 men and women in uniform.

Think about the size of this country and our population of just over 25 million.

Less than 6000 of them actually carry guns, throw in the problems with submarines and jets, and it appears we might be in a whole world of trouble. Luckily, though, the world is in good shape. Oh wait.

Even before the horrific massacre in Israel and the war in the middle east, this country’s government told us that we are in the most uncertain strategic position in 80 years.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a speech to the Lowy Institute in March last year, when he was still opposition leader, that “the brave men and women who serve in our Defence Force deserve … stability and clarity from their government”.

He went on to promise: “Let me be clear: Labor will ensure that Defence has the resources it needs to defend Australia and deter potential aggressors”. An election promise.

Now we all understand that nothing happens quickly in this space. It takes time. The problem is we’ve had time. Plenty of it between conflicts to build ourselves up.

Defence Force cadets at a graduation parade in Canberra.

How many governments have failed us over the past 80 years? There are some who believe we, as a nation, have never faced a greater external threat. We should have seen it coming. You and I might be forgiven for living in a bubble but those we’ve elected and charged with keeping us safe have failed us.

Cost of living is often referred to as the biggest issue for every day Australians. Throughout the election it was Labor’s catch cry and for good reason.

They used it to attack the former government, it’s now being used constantly to attack them by the current opposition. I get it.

In terms of what’s taking up space in people’s minds it’s right at the top. But should it be? The issue here is that it’s actually a privilege to consider ‘cost of living’ the biggest problem you are facing.

We consider it number one because we assume we are safe. We just blindly believe that our government is doing all the important stuff behind the scenes to ensure our national security. It’s complex and hard to understand sometimes, it’s also secretive in many ways for obvious reasons. Our leaders often cite that they are restricted in what they can say regarding our national security for, well, reasons of national security.

What if we all genuinely understood the threat currently posed and our ability to confront it? Would cost of living still be number one? The price of bread won’t matter much if we are under attack.

There’s no point stressing over mortgage repayments if our houses are being bombed. You might think this is far-fetched but how do you reckon Ukraine felt two years ago? Israel three weeks ago? How do you think the people of Taiwan feel?

How terrifying is it that we are all just meant to trust that our government has that side of things sorted. We have to blindly believe that every possible step is being taken to keep us safe in a world that is essentially falling apart right in front of our eyes.

Former senator and major-general Jim Molan.

My dad, former senator and Major-General Jim Molan, spent the last 20 years of his life begging government to develop a national security strategy. A plan. To determine the threat posed and how we, as a country, should and could respond to it.

He waxed lyrical regarding our pitiful fuel supplies — a matter of days if we are cut off from the rest of the world. He was often laughed at, shut down, mocked even, but he never gave up.

As cancer ate away at him over those last 18 months, he didn’t travel, relax, tick off a bucket list. He wrote a book called Danger On Our Doorstep. For money? Nope. The profits are donated to charity.

He wrote the book to warn us of the significant threat we face. He certainly wasn’t going to be the beneficiary of any heightened awareness. He knew that but his love for this country always outweighed any element of self interest. He wrote his book before war broke out in the middle east, he focused on the Chinese Communist Government. How they might attack and how we might be sitting ducks.

Alliances are wonderful things and America is a much-needed partner for us here in Australia and, as the Prime Minister is doing right now, we need to foster that and invest in it.

But even just a casual observer can see that the US is no longer the powerhouse it once was and even a former American General has joined the ranks of those saying they’d struggle to defend themselves against China, let alone anyone else.

We have our nation’s elite in the army, navy and air force, among the best in the world. I spent this week with 300 of them at the Women in Defence Awards in Canberra.

They are superb individuals, but they cannot perform miracles. As the PM said before taking office: “Let me be clear: Labor will ensure that Defence has the resources it needs to defend Australia and deter potential aggressors”. There are some political promises that we can’t afford to break and that’s chief amongst them.