Beazley gives White Paper green light

Former Labor government defence minister Kim Beazley has given the new Defence White Paper a big tick, declaring it "a first class statement on Australia's strategic situation".

Mr Beazley, most recently ambassador to the US, said the White Paper outlines an affordable defence force structure, well-pitched to achieving a technological edge in a region where military capability is growing faster than anywhere else.

"The DWP contains an industry policy which slams into reverse a 20-year drift towards off-the-shelf equipment acquisition," he says in an article on the Australian Strategic Policy Institute blog.

Mr Beazley said the White Paper was a "first class statement on Australia's strategic situation".

"It proffers a balanced view of the significance of Australia's alliances and ably inserts their defence in the context of broader regional and global politics," he said.

Mr Beazley said there were some flaws, with no discussion of military strategy or assessment of likely threats or warning times.

He said this could be included in the classified version of the White Paper, though earlier public White Papers did canvass such issues.

Mr Beazley said the 2016 DWP was saved by a number of factors.

"It takes a welcome step in prioritising the shifting threat environment into new spheres of cyber and space."