Yes, I have to admit that there has been a lot of pipe dreaming here. Even if Brendan and his mates in Canberra have at last recognised that we might actually need some credible hardware in the near future that might actually get used, they still want to be re-elected, and the price tag on some of the wish lists we've seen here is well beyond what the Oz Great Unwashed is willing to pay.
It's a pity that in Oz, it has always seemed impossible to get the message across to some - quite a few, actually, especially the 'educated' elites - that the best social welfare system in the world won't be of much use to you if you no longer own the country that's providing it.
The current unpleasantness in Lebanon should, (but you can guarantee it won't), be a sobering wakeup call to many that if you don't possess a credible deterrent, (Mr Rooseveldt's 'big stick'), any near neighbour can do whatever he likes with and on your territory if he chooses to.
...and if push ever comes to shove in our part of the world, don't expect any of our near neighbours to simply bomb the bejeezus out of us and then go away, as the Israelis are promising to do in Lebanon.