Please don't invade – Navy's on holiday
CANBERRA — Most of Australia's navy will take two months paid leave over Christmas as part of a new strategy to cope with crew shortages and make sailors' jobs more family friendly, the Defence Minister said Tuesday. With the navy short 2,020 personnel, Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said the shut-down, which begins Dec. 3, will enable overworked sailors to rest while new recruitment options are examined. All navy ships not on operational deployments have been ordered home for Christmas, and the number of sailors who stay aboard docked ships as sentries will be reduced to skeleton crews, he said. The navy has about 13,000 personnel in total. “We're doing a lot of work trying to find new and innovative ways both to retain skilled people and recruit new people,” Mr. Fitzgibbon told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio. The two-month break is “just a way of saying thank you and encouraging them to stay in the service,” he added. Mr. Fitzgibbon said a shortage of troops was the biggest challenge facing the Australian Defence Force and making their jobs more family friendly was part of the solution. “The family-work balance is a very, very important part of the equation,” Mr. Fitzgibbon said. Although Australia faces no apparent security threat, the opposition attacked the extended leave. rest = globe and mail