Australia has a ship. A fairly hefty one. It is called HMAS Perth.
It was commissioned in 2006. And it was the eighth and final Anzac-class frigate delivered in what was a $5 billion program. When the contract was announced in 1989 it was the largest acquisition program ever undertaken by Defence.
Four years after it was commissioned, HMAS Perth’s combat systems received a major multi-million dollar upgrade. And then more money was thrown at the ship, as you can see below:
The PM on HMAS Perth in WA, announcing $207 million to strengthen the ADF's anti-ship missile defence capability: https://t.co/LU2IGTWqfg pic.twitter.com/ncvrxzENo0
— The PMO (@thepmo) November 3, 2017
Malcolm Turnbull may have found HMAS Perth to be a great setting for the political photo shoot. But the ship is not much use for anything else.
That’s because it now sits, forlornly, in a dry dock. And it has done so since October 2017.
HMAS Perth’s 5 inch gun has nothing wrong with it. But it can’t be fired. Its torpedo tubes work fine. But they don’t work at all. And its missile launchers are operational except for the fact that the entire ship is not.
As the Chinese Navy sailed into Sydney Harbour this sad little story, now at least 18 months old, broke for the first time in Australia.
The problem?
It’s best described by Marcus Hellyer of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute who told the ABC that:
“HMAS Perth, one of Navy’s frigates, had gone through a very extensive refit and upgrade, got new radar capabilities, so a lot of investment went into that, but at the end of that process Navy couldn’t find a crew for it,” Dr Hellyer said.
“So, it’s essentially sitting up on blocks for two years, out of the water because Navy doesn’t have the people and I think that’s really a microcosm of the challenges the defence force is facing.”
The Australian National Audit Office report simply states:
In October 2017, HMAS Perth (FFH-157) was scheduled to be reactivated following the completion of scheduled maintenance; however, it remains in lay-up due to crew shortages (as shown in Figure 3.1 and Figure 3.2). Navy has advised a crew is expected to become available between July 2019 (medium confidence) and January 2020 (high confidence).
A freshly upgraded HMAS Perth has been stuck on land for almost 2 years because there's simply not enough crew to man her. An embarrassing new report has detailed the Defence Force is struggling to attract qualified personnel.. A weakness picked up by potential overseas threats pic.twitter.com/5S3lX6LOEo
— Natalie Forrest (@nat_forrest) June 6, 2019
And in case you are wondering, Defence’s understanding of ‘high confidence’ differs slightly from the average Australian’s assessment of this phrase. It is only three months since Defence had ‘high confidence’ HMAS Perth would be back at sea by 2020 but the Australian Financial Review is now reporting that it will be high and dry until at least 2021. On current trends, by the time 2021 arrives HMAS Perth will be scheduled to slip into the sea some time towards the end of next decade.
But it wasn’t supposed to be like this.
For the last seven years Defence has been telling us that its new woke recruiting priorities would prevent this type of thing from occurring. Instead, we were told, they would increase access to talent and boost defence recruitment facing strain from competition due to the mining boom.
But now the mining boom has ended. And still the proof of the pudding has come in.
When considering how the rubber hits the road in this woke program, the steel has not hit the sea. The ship hasn’t sailed at all.
Since Labor’s Stephen Smith unleashed a cultural revolution inside the Australian Defence Force in 2012 (with the willing help of the Australian Human Rights Commission), Defence Recruiting has shunned normal blokes and pitched itself to Muslims, the rainbow brigade and expectant mothers.
Defence has even issued glossy documents hundreds of pages long that literally herald a return of Xena warrior princesses, while others have point-blank stated that the number of Anglo-Australian males in the military is undesirable.
Millions of taxpayer dollars have been spent advertising Defence to everyone but those who are most interested in serving: young Anglo-Australian men.
Recently, the @Australian_Navy began taking part in the #100DaysForChange campaign.
To encourage gender equality and diversity in the workplace, personnel in Sydney painted their pinky fingernails pink as a visual indication of support. pic.twitter.com/AK9JqszdR6
— Defence Australia (@DeptDefence) July 28, 2018
Current Navy advertising material.
Excerpt from current edition of Defence Family Matters promoting a lesbian couple and their transgender ‘son’.
Excerpt from ‘Teaming’, published by the Australian Army in 2017.
If these dollars had been an effective use of taxpayer funds, HMAS Perth would be a lesbian love-boat, bristling with weapons, sailing across the sea.
But, alas, it isn’t.
Maybe there just aren’t that many lesbians to go around. Maybe there are but they just aren’t interested.
Who knows?
But we do know this.
Planning the future defence of the nation on the assumption that hordes of rainbow women will sign up to serve does not seem to be a winning strategy.
For whatever reason (and there are many) it just has not worked. There might be a throng of angry feminists ready to tweet hurtful things about a pale, male and stale Defence Force, but there are only a trickle of them who are actually ready to sign up for the new age military.
And now HMAS Perth sits dry as a monument to the colossal stupidity of revolutionising Defence recruiting to sate the rage of inner city elites who have never served and will never do so. It won’t sail until at least 2021 and that time frame could well drift further into the future.
For the last three years the number of males joining the Australian Defence Force has fallen. And last year, for the first time since recruitment was revolutionised, blokes leaving the military outnumbered the women signing up.
The newly-feminised Defence Force has started shrinking.
Men who are interested in wars and guns and killing and fighting have just opted out and it should not be hard to understand why.
This problem could be solved tomorrow with a bit of common sense. But that’s in short supply so don’t be surprised to hear of other similar debacles in the future.
After all, our new Defence Minister, Senator Linda Reynolds, has previously claimed that sporting codes such as the AFL and NRL would be improved if women were competing alongside men in their elite competitions.
Why? Because she says it’s working so well in the Australian Defence Force…
August 5, 2019
Not even a month ago I was told at a Defence Information Session that I was “unlikely to be successful in my chosen roles” as I was the wrong “…gender and background, Caucasian and male, and they’ve already got a lot of you”.
Apparently Defence isn’t interested in 6’2″, 100kg white guys anymore. The guy who told me this wasn’t being nasty about it, it was presented as an honest assessment of my likely success in an application to join the ADF.
A female acquaintance of mine (60kg wringing wet, with asthma and a heart condition) recently enlisted with no problem. I wonder if I could just identify as a female…?
July 12, 2019
So, i met a lady who is in our defence force, in the navy and located in Perth. She confirmed all of the information and said she was extremely happy this article was published! Well done
June 25, 2019
I am so disheartened by this article, that needed to be published. I was initially frustrated that once again the coalition could not find a male to head our Defence Ministry within their team. (Wouldn’t rather than couldn’t) However as I knew very little of Linda Reynolds, I hoped it was just my sexist nature at work…….well Bernard you have destroyed my hope……..well not you specifically but the story you have reported!
June 24, 2019
Lets bring back Junior Recruit training again. It served us well when it was running.
June 21, 2019
Israel Folau – an opportunity for us to stand with Israel
https://www.gofundme.com/israel-folau-legal-action-fund
June 21, 2019
In the navy
Yes, you can sail the seven seas
In the navy
Yes, you can put your mind at ease
In the navy
Come on people, fall an’ make a stand
In the navy, in the navy
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MWNWYdSHGSQ
June 20, 2019
Thank you Bernard for keeping us informed.
June 20, 2019
Ten years ago I visited HMAS Stirling in WA and at that time there was 1 Frigate and two submarines flying an out of commission penant because they could not get crews. I understand that some branches in the Services would not benifit but surely conscription for those long time unemployed would fill some gaps.
June 20, 2019
Bernard, even as a New Zealander this is a depressing article.
I’m not sure how bad our navy has got but I’m sure we won’t be far behind you guys.
When and if the HMAS Perth does eventually sail again I think they will need to rename the frigate “The Love Boat.”
I’m sure our “loving” PM would be right on board too.
The western world is beginning to reap what it has sown.
June 20, 2019
As an aside: Wikipedia strongly supports LGBTIQ with an enormous range of topics, almost all ‘positive’: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline_of_LGBT_topics However there is little ‘positive’ on alternative subjects such as detransition, conversion therapy etc.
Wikipedia is currently running, as part of its ongoing ‘Wiki loves pride’ project: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Pride_2019 a photo competition, with prize money for the best LGBTIQ photos.
Please be aware of an alternative encyclopedia Conservapedia: https://www.conservapedia.com
For instance, there is a comprehensive Conservapedia topic on LGBTIQ health:
https://www.conservapedia.com/Homosexuality_and_health
June 20, 2019
Bernard
I will immediately let you know when Wikipedia has a project, ‘Wiki loves Christianity’
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Christianity
Kind regards
John
June 20, 2019
God help us
June 20, 2019
Meanwhile, that picture of the crew of the chinese warship ‘daigouing’ a truckload of Australian baby formula, speaks another thousand words about chinese morality.
https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/86263b913e1aa0cea4ab0ba319e0e348?width=650
June 20, 2019
So true. I got out of the Navy in 1985 and it has changed so much since then. Sadly I don’t think I would make it in the modern navy,
PC and gender equality is destroying our defence force. There plenty of these eco warriors out there who just love to don masks and demonstrate while destroying stuff and causing dissension but theres not many of those that would readily sign up and defend our country.
RIP Navy. Your were great once
June 20, 2019
After serving and being proud to have done so I could see where the services were going with women being PUT into positions that they ewre not familiar with or equiped psycologically to perform. Defence on the front line is a MAN’S job with a man’s logic .
June 20, 2019
Current serving member of 18 years. Some of our best operators are gay or lesbian and always have been. This article may have some valid points, but to paint all these people in a negative light is a disgrace. They serve their country with as much distinction as anyone. Pull your head in.
June 20, 2019
Marching down Oxford Street is not serving this nation with distinction. The sooner people understand that the sooner the ADF will be able to focus on doing its job.
June 19, 2019
Question…..How do you destroy the Navy of a fircely
independent Country like Australia, who had a
‘Punch above it’s weight’ NAVY for 100 years…
Why from within of course……..Why do we keep having
a succession of either Women or Feminists as Defence Ministers?????….Guess….go on….see if you can work it out.
June 25, 2019
Well said Rick. I joined in 1976 and served for twenty years. Over that that, I served alongside a number of homosexuals and lesbians and they fitted in well. I suspect it was because they passed the rigid tests that were in place back then and no-one made a fuss over them or gave them any notice. Now, this gender crap is rammed down the throats of Defence personnel and to top it all off, females are promoted above males into positions above their weight. A prime example is preventing sailors marching on ANZAC Day down south because of a dimly lit and uneven road. FFS, has that woman ever been to sea on the uppers during a squal, roughest, or worse on a moving hull when it is dark and the weather is against you? And the amount of DSC and DSM’s handed out to females who are merely beaurocrats in uniform is alarming. If readers of my point of view don’t like what I have said, stiff. I haven’t stated any miss truths.
June 19, 2019
If only we could conscript the stuck-up inner-urban elites for some military service. Even 30 days at Kapooka would be great.
June 19, 2019
The Chinese knew all this, and to show that they did, they decided to park unannounced in Sydney Harbour 3 of their naval vessels recently.
There was a embarrassed silence by the politicians which tells me that the Chinese now know that next time they could demand that Australian surrender to China, and that all of Australia’s military forces demobilize.
Guess what, Australian politicians will speedily comply, not wishing to be thought racist were they to tell the Chinese that Australia would defend its territory with all the defence forces that she has.
The Indonesians are laughing too.
June 20, 2019
Unannounced?? You idiot!! You think a warship just turns in to Sydney Harbour without anyone knowing? You think that they are met on the wharf with all the services required to berth a ship, without notice? Maybe they were announced o you, but you don’t need to to know. How much notice did you have that the US was coming in?
June 19, 2019
Love your work Bernard! So glad I am not still in the RAN! After 37 years service I could see the writing on the wall and was discharged in 2004.
June 19, 2019
Both HMAS NEWCASTLE and HMAS MELBOURNE are being decommissioned 10 years too early because of manning issues regardless of any excuse Navy gives. Nothing has changed in regards to the shortage of personnel to man our ships, we are top heavy and there are too many non sea going sailors leaving a few to do all the work.
June 19, 2019
Hey, they always find a crew or two to march (cavort more like it) in the Mardi Gras. Apparently that’s more important. What a disgrace
June 20, 2019
Bernard. Keep up your very valuable work. Don’t ever let them get you down.
The Australian Navy prances up Oxford St with this group.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pup_Pride_Sydney_Gay_and_Lesbian_Mardi_Gras_2016.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/59/a2/41/59a2414f650c3621da4eb75602fb1384.jpg
Absolutely disgraceful.
June 19, 2019
What a tragedy Bernard and thanks for your efforts to keep us informed about these matters concerning our security.