Hi Sailor , I am not a fan of taxpayers money / tariffs / subsidies being spent on manufacturing generally. But that is different from maintaining a narrow capacity to underpin the logistics of a war of defence. As well as oil , our geography demands we maintain a stockpile of expendables with the capacity to produce more of things like missiles and ammunition. All sounds expensive , but if you consider our wealth , and our geography , upping our expenditure to 2.5 or 2.6% of GDP not a big ask. There are savings to be made with a defence of Australia strategy vs being a deputy sheriff, , have a look at what the RAN's biggest ship is and decide how likely a large contested landing is likely to be on our dance card[ that is us making a landing by the way].
In thinking about all this , if we have our own capabilities , we are better able to have a foreign policy more attuned to our needs , and will be better able to unnecessarily p1ss off our neighbours . The best defence is not attack , it is having people not attack you. cheers
