Pandemic supply chains and the proposed defence dividend

The 2025 foreword uses the pandemic to explain the vulnerability of international just-in-time supply chains and the need for a response involving government, business, and society. Its proposed defence dividend joins procurement reform and industrial partnership to jobs, prosperity, and innovation at wartime pace. Later priorities combine a NATO-first approach and war-fighting readiness with economic growth, lessons from Ukraine, and wider social participation. The criticism is that economic objectives dominate much of this list while the missing defence investment plan leaves the balance between spending and cuts unclear. Recognizing supply-chain vulnerability therefore still leaves the practical question of what equipment and industrial capacity will receive funding.