Side note on the fires: I wonder if the Mallacoota situation is showing up big deficiencies in the ADF's amphibious and sealift capability
Under the much vaunted Plan Beersheba, the ADF is meant to be able to sustain an amphibious battalion. It also supposedly is able to land troops and vehicles off the Canberra class ships, eg news.navy.gov.au/en/Aug2019/Fle…
Of course, the Navy hasn't been gearing up for a full-scale civilian emergency, and it has deployed the HMAS Choules, which is a very useful ship. But a Hobart ship (there are two) would be valuable in the current situation, with helicopters and an on-board hospital.
Be interested to hear some thoughts from the defence community on the challenges of defence planning for a hotter, more disaster prone future
Sorry, Canberra class ship. Not a Hobart, they're the destroyers. Anyways.
