Australia really has a lack of military assets in Western Australia; yes, there is Fleet Base West at Garden Island, but that is about it. There is no fighter jet capability on the whole west coast of Australia, this of great concern. Ok, the majority of the population is based on the east coast of Australia; however, what we have is infrastructure in Western Australia.

There are only a number of air bases, the main base, just 35 km north of Perth is RAAF Base Pearce, but this is a training centre and logistics base. There is RAAF Base Learmonth on the north west cape and RAAF Base Curtin near Derby in the Kimberly region. The air bases at both Learmonth and Curtin are not full time air bases.

These are considered just bare bases, that means they are not fully staffed and used sporadically such as when they have exercises on. RAAF Base Learmonth is available to protect assets in the Pilbara region from port facilities, iron ore rail networks, oil and gas rigs, and oil and gas processing facilities. There should be fighter jets stationed full time at RAAF Base Learmonth, the air base needs to be dramatically increased.

Likewise, RAAF Base Curtin is another bare base, it is basically an airstrip, some hangar facilities and limited fuel storage. It is basically a single runway, the facilities at Learmonth are more extensive and are very close to the Harold E. Holt naval communication station. I understand the Royal Australian Air Force is controlled by federal government budgets, the federal government needs to greatly increase spending to protect critical Western Australian assets..

The purpose of a military base on Cocos Island would be the ability to enforce a blockade at the strategic chokepoint of the Strait of Malacca and Sunda Strait. With an airbase on Cocos Island, it is far enough away from Indonesia to allay their security concerns and close enough to defend with a missile defence system. As Cocos Island is just 736 km from Jakarta, it is within range of fighter jets,

Should we end up in a conflict with China, enforcing a blockade of Chinese shipping through the Strait of Malacca would severely limit their access to the South China Sea. However, the distance to Singapore is 1686 km, that requires inflight fuelling and that provides a series of logistical problems as well as security concerns for tankers.

There are the logistical benefits of a base this close to South East Asia, with a radar array and missile defence system, this protects the entry to the north west of Australia. The north west is exposed, with a Chinese threat, their forces may not attack from the north or the east like planned. Likewise, they may seek to attack from multiple points through Indonesia, although they would likely limit access.

With Quad partners, the Indian navy would have the ability to visit and utilise the facilities for replenishment purposes as one would expect the Indian navy to be tasked with patrolling the Indian Ocean and the entries to the Malacca Strait and the Sunda Strait. The early warning capability would justify the investment as a forward operating base. It was always implied in defence whitepapers that we have a decade warning to build up our military, we might already be in the ten year lead period.