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Speaker 1: All right.

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Speaker 2: The government has announced a massive twelve billion dollar investment

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Speaker 2: in defense over the next four years. Nine billion of

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Speaker 2: it is completely new, with a plan to live defense

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Speaker 2: spending to more than two percent of GDP in the

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Speaker 2: next eight years. It comes as we've seen all this

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Speaker 2: activity from China. They've launched it into ballistic missile in

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Speaker 2: the Pacific last year, hastling the Jetstar planes. We had

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Speaker 2: three Chinese warships sailing off the coast of Sydney a

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Speaker 2: couple of months ago. So retired Lieutenant Colonel Hayden Ricketts

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Speaker 2: joins me, good morarding to your Hayden.

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Speaker 1: Good morning, Andrew, how are you?

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Speaker 2: I'm good. This is a record spend and it's overdue,

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Speaker 2: isn't it.

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Speaker 1: I think it is. I'd congratulate the government on what

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Speaker 1: is really a step change for defense spending over the

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Speaker 1: past thirty five years or sorry, twelve billion dollar commitment

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Speaker 1: to increase spending over the next four years. It's absolutely massive.

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Speaker 1: But our observation around the whole plane is that it's

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Speaker 1: great to see some new ten some new ships for

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Speaker 1: AVC aircraft Reeforce, and some armored vehicles and things for

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Speaker 1: for army. But what this misses the mark on is

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Speaker 1: as the people component parts holiness was identified as a

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Speaker 1: really contributing factor in the sinking of the moneymnui and

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Speaker 1: I don't see. We're in the Defense Capability Plan. The

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Speaker 1: link between that holiness and how the DCP is going

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Speaker 1: to address the gaps and the key skills and trades

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Speaker 1: and the defense walls at.

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Speaker 2: The moment, indeed, is it it reported that in fact,

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Speaker 2: the Defense Force is going through a major restructure right

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Speaker 2: now because of the attack on government spending, and so

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Speaker 2: there are in fact hundreds of people being laid off,

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Speaker 2: but they're in the middle of a process right now,

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Speaker 2: so their morale is already low, but now they're being told, actually,

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Speaker 2: now you're getting more money. So it's a confusing situation,

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Speaker 2: it is.

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Speaker 1: I think it's a really good signal that the government

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Speaker 1: is sending to our international allowers and our partners. I

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Speaker 1: think that you might have seen the little graph that

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Speaker 1: they come up with the pressure release, and for your listeners,

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Speaker 1: it's a graph sort of between nineteen eighty showing spending

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Speaker 1: decreasing from three percent of GDP down to one percent,

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Speaker 1: so at the moment and then almost like a complete

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Speaker 1: u tune back up to two percents over east eight years.

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Speaker 1: That graph is going to brief beautifully capitals all around

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Speaker 1: the world and especially in the White House. But I think,

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Speaker 1: in realistic terms, can the government afford to do this?

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Speaker 1: I'm not convinced. Cynically. We've seen twenty billion dollars invested

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Speaker 1: or stated investment in twenty sixteen in the DCP, another

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Speaker 1: fourteen million, sorry, fourteen billion in defense and DCP nineteen

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Speaker 1: and now another signal of a huge investment. But these

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Speaker 1: investments get promised, but they don't get delivered on.

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Speaker 2: But here's the other thing. I mean, you're talking the money,

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Speaker 2: but it's not about the money.

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Speaker 1: It's the kit.

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Speaker 2: And if you buy the wrong kit, you can waste

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Speaker 2: that money really quickly. I talked about the light armored

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Speaker 2: vehicles that hen Clark bought for un piece work when

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Speaker 2: really a lot of people at the time argued, maybe

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Speaker 2: you should be buying a boat.

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Speaker 1: Well, you're right. So Army has got a lot of

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Speaker 1: those light armored vehicles that are not being cruised. Some

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Speaker 1: of the new bush Masters have bought a lot of

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Speaker 1: those vehicles that are still not being fully utilized. Navy

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Speaker 1: Scot's ships tied up despite the factor of the loss

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Speaker 1: of the money, Anon, and I think air Force has

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Speaker 1: got more aircraft at the moment that they can comfortably crewe.

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Speaker 1: A commitment spend more money on more gear is great,

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Speaker 1: but without the personnel component part of that to support

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Speaker 1: it in behind, the whole plan just sort of starts

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Speaker 1: to fall apart.

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Speaker 2: Hayden, Rickards, I thank you for your service, and I

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Speaker 2: thank you for your time this morning. That is Hayden

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Speaker 2: here is retarded Lieutenant Colonel.

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