Without artillery, and bloody good artillerymen, that [Long Tan] could have been a very different outcome.
They're cancelling/deferring the long awaited self-propelled arty, which in this day and age, is suicide for the poor bastards manning the towed variety (and therefore [see the quote above, which is 100% accurate], those they're supporting) if they're ever sent into action against a halfway decently equipped enemy, for, today, with radar tracking of arty rounds, the gun needs to move PDQ after firing a very few rounds before its site is pounded to oblivion by counter battery fire.
As for the submarines escaping the cuts... it's all about politics, jobs and pork barrelling in South Australia. But $240 million just for investigations into the new type? Wowsers! That's some serious investigating.
On the ABC (Sydney) this morning, an indignant and outraged SMS from a listener: "Who needs submarines? Child care payments for single parents continuing after the youngest child turns six are far more important." Says it all really, especially about your average ABC listener.