Forty Million Australians

Every other pillar rests on people. Submarines require crews. Missile batteries require operators. Manufacturing requires workers. Intelligence requires analysts. A fertility rate of 1.48 — the lowest in a century of national records — means Australia is not replacing itself. 73.4% of population growth now comes from net overseas migration; only 26.6% from natural increase. Australia is becoming a country that imports its future. A national service programme of 80,000 active reserves would provide the civic capacity and military depth that Australia's geography demands. The Black Summer bushfires required the largest peacetime military deployment in Australian history — 6,500 personnel — to manage a domestic emergency. A citizen reserve is not a wartime luxury.