Australia's navy has been sent on a two-month Christmas holiday, with military chiefs saying the long shutdown would not leave the country unprotected and was the only way to deal with staff shortages.
Navy commanders ordered all ships not on overseas operations to return to port over the traditional holiday, while docked vessels would have only a skeleton staff to maintain on-board security as other staff took leave.
"The stand down will not impact operations and is to ensure that our people who are not required on operations are able to take a meaningful period of time off and spend time with their families," deputy navy chief Rear Admiral Davyd Thomas said.
The navy, one of Asia's most advanced, faces serious staff shortages, with 2,020 skilled vacancies and a 27 per cent yearly recruitment shortfall, exacerbated by 11 per cent of staff quitting the service each year.
In March this year the 12,000-strong navy admitted having only enough qualified submariners to operate half its six-boat submarine fleet, as the nation's mining boom was drawing seamen to higher paying jobs in outback mines.
Defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon said the Christmas shutdown from December 3rd until February 3rd would help the navy become more family friendly and be more flexible about childcare arrangements and work-from-home needs for personnel.
Conservative opposition lawmaker David Johnston took a different view. "I have never seen a defence force charged with the protection of Australia saying 'we are going to have six to eight weeks off over Christmas because we think it is a good thing for the mums and dads'."
The Australian Defence Association, representing military personnel, said the stand down was good news for sailors trying to manage careers and families.
- (Reuters)