11 - Facing an Uncertain Future: Defence and Security under the Howard Government

Summary

The period 1996–2000 was a relatively difficult and turbulent time for Australia’s defence decision-makers. They had to deal with a number of unforeseen events and crises, adjust their policies and practices to changing political and social expectations, defend themselves from criticism from a range of quarters, and continue to do ’more with less’. The department was forced to acknowledge that it did not have the resources to complete its existing, let alone planned, equipment-acquisition program. And the Australian public was both entertained and appalled by a series of incidents and events that attracted unusual, and increasingly critical, media attention. These included a protracted public brawl between the Minister for Defence and his politically appointed civilian head; continuing revelations of sexual harassment and other misdemeanours within the armed forces; accounts of departmental ineptitude; and the spectacle of the current Secretary of Defence publicly lambasting his department and some of its senior officials.