Australia is an island nation, which in one sense makes it more secure than other countries that share land borders with their neighbours and potential foes.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In another sense, however, it also makes us vulnerable, especially in the event of a maritime conflict in which sea lanes are blocked. Such a conflict is brewing to our north with China claiming sovereignty over disputed islands and shoals and rapidly militarising them as it projects it naval power into the South China Sea.
While hope is pinned against a flashpoint being ignited, good strategic planning demands developing contingencies for a worst-case scenario. In such a scenario, Australia could be cut off from supplies of steel and fuel.
Already, our capacity to refine crude oil into petrol, diesel and aviation fuel has been greatly diminished over the years, as the major oil companies have scaled back their operations.
Steel, as we know, is limping along as a local industry, thanks to a market that offers cheap overseas imports. Those imports, while helping the bottom line during times of peace, simply cannot be relied upon in times of war.
This is the message in the submission from the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union to the Senate inquiry into the steel.
History tells us it’s one worth considering.
The first American vessel sunk in World War II struck a German mine nowhere near the hotly contested Atlantic Ocean or British Channel. The City of Rayville came to grief off Cape Otway on November 8, 1940 as it prepared to enter Bass Strait.
The ship was carrying lead ingots produced at the smelter in Port Pirie.
It didn’t end there. More than 50 German and Japanese surface raiders and submarines sank 53 merchant ships and three warships within Australian waters, resulting in the deaths of over 1751 Allied military personnel, sailors and civilians.
Several of these were sunk off the South Coast.
As in World War II, the most likely conflict in our part of the world will be in the East Asia region, from where a lion’s share of the cheap imported steel originates. In such a scenario, supplies of steel – vital to any war effort – are likely to be interdicted.
So there is more than just an economic dimension to local steel’s future.
Our security depends on our ability to produce it locally in times of strife.
