The Watcher
New Member
Digging the old graves... 
I don't wana say how much enemies but how much friends are australia and indonesia? :australia :indonesia
-------------------------------------------------
Defence doves wanted F-111 deal canned
THE doves in the 1973 Whitlam government faced a tough battle against bureaucratic hawks and a wary top brass as they fought to cut defence spending and revamp the military.
Defence minister Lance Barnard was forced to the middle ground on defence spending.
The choice was stark.
Either cut programs and retire equipment such as aircraft and ships or cancel capital programs already under way.
According to cabinet documents released today, Gough Whitlam and his left-wing treasurer Jim Cairns wanted immediate cuts of $120 million from the $1.4 billion defence budget.
Barnard got the cuts reduced to $85 million for a total budget of $1345 million or 3.09 per cent of GDP – about $213 million under the previous government's budget forecast.
Today the Government devotes about 1.9 per cent ($15 billion) of the nation's total economic activity of $734 billion to defence.
The sensitivity of post-Vietnam War budget cuts was highlighted in a file note from August 1973 from Cabinet secretary Sir John Bunting.
He had spoken to defence secretary Sir Arthur Tange telling him that Mr Whitlam was keen that post-budget statements did not "overdo the dismal side".
"I could rest assured that he (Tange) and the minister would be using all the ingenuity at their command to present the slaughter as plastic surgery," Mr Bunting said.
One controversial project at the forefront of defence discussions was the F-111 strike aircraft which Mr Whitlam was keen to abandon.
The government had received legal advice that it could not cancel the deal.
It agreed to proceed, but recorded its disapproval at the way the previous government had negotiated the purchase and sought to improve the terms of the deal with the US government.
The first aircraft landed at Amberley, west of Brisbane, on June 1. They have been in service ever since with the Government only this year deciding to retire them in 2010.
The government of Robert Menzies ordered the F-111 – then referred to as the Tactical Fighter Experimental (TFX) – off the drawing board at a meeting at the Pentagon in 1963.
It was also envisaged the F-111s could form the delivery system for an Australian atomic bomb option.
INFORMATION about the cabinet records, lists of the documents and images of key cabinet documents, including all publicly released submissions and decisions, are available on the archives website – www.naa.gov.au
source
I don't wana say how much enemies but how much friends are australia and indonesia?
:australia :indonesia-------------------------------------------------
Defence doves wanted F-111 deal canned
THE doves in the 1973 Whitlam government faced a tough battle against bureaucratic hawks and a wary top brass as they fought to cut defence spending and revamp the military.
Defence minister Lance Barnard was forced to the middle ground on defence spending.
The choice was stark.
Either cut programs and retire equipment such as aircraft and ships or cancel capital programs already under way.
According to cabinet documents released today, Gough Whitlam and his left-wing treasurer Jim Cairns wanted immediate cuts of $120 million from the $1.4 billion defence budget.
Barnard got the cuts reduced to $85 million for a total budget of $1345 million or 3.09 per cent of GDP – about $213 million under the previous government's budget forecast.
Today the Government devotes about 1.9 per cent ($15 billion) of the nation's total economic activity of $734 billion to defence.
The sensitivity of post-Vietnam War budget cuts was highlighted in a file note from August 1973 from Cabinet secretary Sir John Bunting.
He had spoken to defence secretary Sir Arthur Tange telling him that Mr Whitlam was keen that post-budget statements did not "overdo the dismal side".
"I could rest assured that he (Tange) and the minister would be using all the ingenuity at their command to present the slaughter as plastic surgery," Mr Bunting said.
One controversial project at the forefront of defence discussions was the F-111 strike aircraft which Mr Whitlam was keen to abandon.
The government had received legal advice that it could not cancel the deal.
It agreed to proceed, but recorded its disapproval at the way the previous government had negotiated the purchase and sought to improve the terms of the deal with the US government.
The first aircraft landed at Amberley, west of Brisbane, on June 1. They have been in service ever since with the Government only this year deciding to retire them in 2010.
The government of Robert Menzies ordered the F-111 – then referred to as the Tactical Fighter Experimental (TFX) – off the drawing board at a meeting at the Pentagon in 1963.
Defence contingency planning at the time envisaged bombing raids from Australian territory to eliminate Indonesia's military as a last resort.
It was also envisaged the F-111s could form the delivery system for an Australian atomic bomb option.
INFORMATION about the cabinet records, lists of the documents and images of key cabinet documents, including all publicly released submissions and decisions, are available on the archives website – www.naa.gov.au
source
