ANU Professor of International Security John Blaxland hopes to see an Australian universal scheme for national and community service amid the nation’s “small” army combatting international and domestic challenges.
Professor Blaxland said the army currently has two divisions while there were 14 in the height of World War Two – with their national population under 8 million.
“We want to play alongside allies but to do that and maintain our responsibilities here we need to muscle up,” he told Sky News Australia.
He said people are needed in firefighting, SES, police, national parks and “considerably more” in the defence forces.
“We as a nation owe it to ourselves to think about how we can muster up our young people to actually make a contribution early in life in one of those areas … to help us overcome some of the shortcomings and some of the challenges we’re facing now and that we’re likely to face in the near future.”
Read More
Our Apps
