2.5 Million Dollar TV Campaign Won't Solve Reserves Crisis

Chris Evans - Shadow Minister for Defence

Media Statement - 4 June 2002

The Government has failed to acknowledge the damning statistics released last week by the independent Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) that show recruitment to the Australian Reserves Force is in crisis.

Figures produced in the ASPI budget report show that for each of the last 3 years, the Government has failed to attract even half the people it needs for the Reserves to perform the functions set by Howard in the White Paper.

The worst shortfall is in the front line, the Reserves Combat Forces, which last year achieved only 48% of the recruitment target set by the Government.

The Government is embarking on a $2.5 million taxpayer funded advertising blitz to cover up the mess it's made in Reserves.

This is despite the fact that statistical analysis by the Audit Office shows that national advertising campaigns for Reserves, particularly television, are ineffective at turning inquiries into enlistments.

The Common Induction Training (CIT) requirement has been clearly identified by Defence and the Audit Office as the main reason Australians are not joining the Reserves.

Introduced by the Howard Government in 1998, the CIT has had catastrophic effects.

It requires all Army Reservists to train initially for 45 days, or two lots of 3 weeks, and Air Force and Navy Reservists for 10 weeks straight.

The Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence, Danna Vale, today read nicely from her brief in question time but completely failed to address the reasons why the Government persists with this well-documented policy disaster.

The Government has already placed its bet on how successful the advertising campaign will be, budgeting for a drop in the number of Reservists in 2002-03.