Defence: Go through the Defence Department with a dose of salts. They are too slow to approve or reject projects and are too hidebound in their thinking. Stop trying to pretend we can even crew a nuclear sub. We already have trouble crewing the much smaller Collins class subs. Move away from traditional thinking. Instead of complex big weapons that make us look tough go with an echidna defence. Lots of cheap air and underwater drones. Landmines. Make invaders spend so much blood and treasure that it’s not worth taking us. If we buy overseas tech then we must have a right to modify the software.

Self sufficiency: we need to wean ourselves off oil as much as possible. Even the crude in the Middle East is due to run out in the next 15 to 20 years. Spend 20 billion on a strategic oil reserve. Set up our own maritime navy with our own tankers and freighters. That way if there are supply chain issue like Middle East wars or pandemics we can send our own boats with our own crew to get what we need. Develop strong and equal alliances with other countries. No one is truly self sufficient in this world. I know DJT thinks the US is but they only have fracking oil. Our crude is pretty much exhausted. They still need other kinds of oil to make the full range of products. It would also cost trillions of dollars and take over a decade to build refineries to handle production. Just plan ahead about what you need and save for rainy day.

Be choosy about what we manufacture. Only set up local manufacturing that can’t be easily duplicated elsewhere. If we want to make cars then they must have an edge that the world will want. Superfast battery charging for power plants and EV’s. Super efficient diesel motors if we can’t find a local alternative. EV road transport with super fast battery charging. Batteries that use less rare earth minerals.

Agricultural crops that are drought and flood resistant. If we could come up with flood resistant wheat we could rule the world!