In order to maintain peace

prepare for war. I know that sounds like a contradiction but it is how it works.  Our Defence Minister was correct when he said this. He has been heavily criticised for saying it but it is still correct.

No,  I am not suggesting that we put all young people into some form of compulsory military service or that we teach secondary school students how to use a gun. Those things are not necessary.

Yes, we do need a well prepared and well equipped army, navy and air force. I don't like those things but they are necessary.

Those are some of the things we need for an actual war. But there are other ways in which we need to prepare. There are things like securing our food supply, our fuel supply, our supply of medicines and much more. We could be independent in these things but "trade" considerations have always been a priority. It doesn't mean isolating ourselves from the world but having a strategy so that if we need to be independent we can be independent. It might not be quite as comfortable as it is at present but it could be done. 

Currently we are living way beyond our means - and the demand for even greater and higher standards of living are only increasing. So, part of the strategy has to be prepare for a lower standard of living. It will still be very comfortable compared with that of much of the world.

We need good foreign relations but they need to be wide too, not just those with a narrow focus on a particular region. We need skilled career diplomats with an understanding of international law and trade relations, cultural difference and much more. They need to be fluent in more than the languages of one region. 

That our Defence Minister was criticised for saying we need to prepare for war in order to maintain peace was of course part of the political game being played at the moment. However, the fact that it was said at all is indicative of a narrow view of our place in the world. That needs to change.

The claim that we are some sort of special "multi-cultural" country that doesn't need to work at any of this because we already have what we need is wrong. We need to teach ourselves to listen to what is going on in the distance, not just close at hand.