Rudd defends his record as PM on defence | The Canberra Times

It is profoundly disappointing that The Canberra Times would publish such baseless gibberish as Bradley Perrett's column on defence policy ("Labor's security policy is right; its actions haven't always been", February 18).

Perrett says Labor "hardly took defence seriously" when last in office. Did he forget how my government increased defence spending by one-third pushing it to 1.96 per cent of GDP? The Liberals attacked us, of course, preferring to bang the "debt and deficit" drum than prepare for the future. Subsequent cuts under Gillard were wrong, but real defence spending under our government still remained much higher than it was under Howard.

Perrett also swallows the Liberal myth that my government was "all announcement and no action" on submarines. The truth is Labor inherited six Collins-class submarines, a legacy of Bob Hawke, that were facing retirement and Howard left no plan to replace them. Australia would be left strategically naked.

We took two actions: first, we upgraded the Collins fleet and extended its lifespan. The Collins was a global embarrassment under Howard, but became some of the best conventional subs in the world under Labor.

Second, we launched a steady 23-year plan to design and construct 12 new submarines, starting with a RAND Corporation study of Australia's capability and capacity to get the job done.

More work followed, including discussions with prospective partners. Submarines are easily among the most complex pieces of military equipment; can you imagine the public's rightful outrage if we'd immediately rushed to start cutting steel without doing the groundwork?

If The Canberra Times had checked Perrett's assertions, it would know the Liberals have in fact been the weaker party on these matters at practically every stage over the last two decades.

Kevin Rudd
Brisbane, Qld