We will not be safe while tied to current US foreign policy

So, under Peter Costello's "Keeping Australia Safe" budget, it is going to cost more to treat the common cold but we will be able to do it in a safe and secure environment. Sounds good and plays well in the electorate, but not so. Not unless Australia and other Western nations show greater vision in formulating defence and foreign policy.

Broadly, Australia's policies in defence differ from those of the Bush administration only in the way we spell it. Australia is part of whatever the US is planning. The next announcement may be the invasion of Iraq and the deployment of up to 500,000 troops. It will make Afghanistan look like a walk in the park.

And while we might support the government's stand, and many of its budget plans for increases in defence spending are sensible, we need to know that under the umbrella of Western foreign policy Australia is now a more prominent target and until that policy changes, no budget can make us "safe".

In a dark legacy from the Sydney Olympics, Australia is now better prepared for a biological/chemical attack than any other country. But that defence is far from tested. While everything possible was done for the Games, a determined attack could not have been prevented.

Yes, there was a marked increase in the efficiency of intelligence services here and overseas, but who had ever heard of Martin Bryant before he slaughtered people in Tasmania? Intelligence systems will not normally detect the Martin Bryants any more than they will detect the dozens of teenagers around the world who are being taught to hate the US and the West (including Australia) to the point that they will strap on explosives and sacrifice themselves in despair and martyrdom.