You can almost guarantee that if (huge 'if') Kev actually does anything, (apart from talk about it), the kit will be:
- (it goes without saying) incredibly expensive
- one-off, (ie, no one else will have it, OR, be so out of date no one has it any more)
- totally unsuited to the task in hand
- arrive - five to ten years late after successive delays - with its main weapons systems either non-existent or missing some vital piece of hardware/software so as not to offend the Indonesians.
Anyone care to add to this list?
Surely the RAN's main current crisis point is manning rather than equipment? Why not get creative and do something similar to what the Yanks have been doing for years now and come up with a scheme where if a young man or woman goes into the Services for (five?) years, they can walk out at the end of their enlistment period and go to university or TAFE and have their HECS debt forgiven? Throw them a living allowance, even if it's only a small one, via some form of a scholarship as well - so long as they remain on the active Reserve for (ten?) years. For those not interested in going to uni, set up a scheme that converts the trade they learned in the Service to a civilian-recognised ticket.
Treat them well in the meantime and you might even find some will sign on and stay at the end of their first enlistment.