The department is also facing reviews to reduce waste in spending and improve the maintenance of hardware.
General Hurley last night said four fundamental shifts taking place globally were redefining the strategic environment.
The first was the shift of global power to Asia on the back of China’s momentum and India’s emergence, warning that “multilateralism in the Asia-Pacific will make our world richer but harder to manage”.
It was harder to judge the outcomes of the Arab Spring, as democratic uprisings in the Middle East had toppled dictators in Egypt, Tunisia and sparked a civil war in Libya and tensions in Syria.
“To survive, political leaderships will have to listen to the popular will. This cannot but change a region that stretches from northwest Africa to Pakistan. The result will be an even more complex region,” he said.
He expressed concern about the global economy, which underpins global security.
General Hurley said Defence had been asked to respond to reviews that challenged fundamental elements of the organisation, including procurement and accountability, and six probes of its culture after the Skype case.
“When I look at the broad canvas that these reviews must illuminate, one thing is starkly clear, we cannot respond to the recommendations of these reviews in a piecemeal, review-by-review manner.
“Simply turning several hundred recommendations from red traffic lights to green over five years or more will not produce the change that people expect, nor will it improve Defence.”
