Re: Alice-Darwin and East Timor

[Martin Silsby <msilsby@tassie.net.au>]

But does this take into account the recent change in direction, i.e. moving
as much as possible to the north of Australia, where the threat is now
percieved? In the past, it was considered that the southern states would be
high on the list. Now the focus has changed to our northern neighbours.

David Bromage wrote:

> Les Brown wrote:
> >
> > Since it is now pretty certain that Australia is going to lead the
> > United Nations peace keeping force in East Timor, Darwin seems to be
> > the departure point for traffic in that direction.
>
> The Department of Defence concluded about 20 years ago that rail to
> Darwin was not vital to their needs. The 1st Armoured Regiment, part of
> the 1st Brigade, is now based in Darwin instead of Puckapunyal. The 3rd
> Brigade is based in Townsville. If one had to reinforce the other, the
> railway they need still wouldn't be there.
>
> The other problem is that much of the army's equipment is out of gauge.
> The Centurion tanks were only slightly oversize, but the Leopard tanks
> are even bigger.
>
> Cheers
> David