The degree and nature of government involvement in the production of war
materials has changed markedly in recent years. This dissertation traces
events that have occurred and the background to these. It attempts to put
in context, changes that have taken place particularly over the past decade,
and which to date have not been placed in a connected sequence or
described as part of an overall plan.
The dissertation commences with a brief outline of the growth of defence
industry in Australia and its subsequent decline in size and performance
during the last forty years. From this base, it looks at options which faced
governments at the beginning of the 1980's, decisions which were made,
and the reasons for those decisions. It then goes on to examine whether the
"best" options were followed from a number of viewpoints. These include
defence strategic considerations, matters of probity and equity in the
disposal of assets, (particularly the public good), as well as the impact on
those affected by the decision. The process of change, including the extent
to which decisions and their effects were scrutinised by external and
auditing agencies, is then considered. The experience in this country has to
a large extent paralleled, although lagged, that in the United Kingdom.
Accordingly, appropriate references are brought from the UK experience to
highlight alternatives to, or weaknesses of, the processes followed and
policies implemented locally.
Finally, the essay provides some discussion of the benefits and costs
which have been observed so far, as well as postulating options which may
be taken in Australia as the process of change continues.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/218879 |
| Date | January 1990 |
| Creators | Delmore, Colin, n/a |
| Publisher | University of Canberra. Management |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | ), Copyright Colin Delmore |
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