"are you anticipating that Australia is about to declare war"
Unilaterally and not in response to an act of aggression? No.
A few points though;
- Australia doesn't need to be the one declaring war to be dragged into a war.
- Australia doesn't need to be the one acting aggressively in import sea lanes to be dragged into a confrontation.
- Australia can't build up defence assets once a threat fully emerges, at that point it is too late.
- Proper deterrence levels help ensure potential threats are reduced. Little to no deterrence will encourage threats to develop.
This is all fairly basic stuff.
Cheers!
