Audrey Young reports in the Herald:

The entire Defence Force will be re-shaped by 2015 into what will be called a Joint Amphibious Task Force that will enable the Army to deploy more people for longer in combat situations.

Defence Minister Wayne Mapp this morning launched the plan at Defence Headquarters, including some decisions on equipment and training as part of the Defence Capability Plan, the first in 10 years.

About $3 billion will be spent over the next 10 years but it will come from budgeted future accumulated depreciation payments, and there will be no new capital spending he said.

Part of that will be spent on an upgraded battle training facility by 2014 for the SAS at Papakura, which it seems could be a public-private partnership.

I’m disappointed with the timidity of the defence plan. I’ve long argued that we need a stronger military, and that we should be spending up large on critical defence assets.

If we are to challenge the two main superpowers in the Asia-Pacific region for hegemony then we have to accept the need to spend more on defence than we currently are. We will need to invest heavily in the latest aircraft, and acquire sufficient numbers of fighter and bomber aircraft so that, should the need arise, we can flatten the likes of Fiji and turn coastal Australia into a hellish inferno.

And I’m not talking about just buying up a bunch of old F16 planes from the US. That would be plain dumb. If we want to build a strong military industrial complex then we should be building our own aircraft. That way, when the final conflagration and apocalyptic showdown with America commences, we will be self-sufficient.

This plan will be great for jobs too.

But let us not forget our place at the bottom of the Pacific. If we really want to flex our muscles we will need a carrier fleet. We have some pretty clever boat-builders in this country, so they should be able to churn out at least two carriers a year. Give it five years and we’ll be ready for anything that comes our way.

I’ve always been an admirer of the battleship, the giant beast of the sea that was rendered obsolete by airpower. So what if it’s a sitting duck for a cruise missile? A mighty battleship wielding a battery of terrifying 18 inch guns would scare the hell out of most of our island neighbours. There must be room in our naval plan for at least half a dozen of these vessels.

Nor must we neglect our troops on the ground. It will take time to build a cyborg army from scratch, so we need to start work now. Armed with the latest laser weapons and programmed to obey the most cold-blooded of orders, these soldiers will be unbeatable.

I know what you’re thinking. It’s a good plan that any patriot would salute, but it’s just too expensive, right?

Wrong. Turning the entire nation into one large military camp will be great for the economy, because it will provide jobs and stimulate our manufacturing sector. The price for this progress will be steep, and in the short term will damn near bankrupt us. But these debt mountains will seem like molehills once our troops are in control of the US west coast and all its vast wealth.

But ask yourself this: who will provide the leadership to make this plan happen? You don’t think our steady-as-she-goes PM will be up to the task, do you? Seriously? No, we need someone who can inspire their countrymen and women to achieve astounding feats. An Ed Hillary type, only slightly more violent and less humanitarian.

It won’t be easy to find this person, and we may need to look at an interim solution while the right person works their way through the ranks. The sort of brutally sadistic patriot we need doesn’t come along all that often. It probably makes sense that, because I have this entire plan in my head (what I’ve written here is but a fraction of the master-plan!), I take on the role as interim leader. I can assure you, however, that I will be more than happy to step down when a more appropriate candidate comes onto the scene. You have my word as a freedom-loving patriot.

So what now? You like the plan but want to know how to get involved. The best thing you can do is donate cash. Lots of it. Any currency and any denomination. Go on, do it for your country.