Bizarre

Defence in the Modern World

Porkulus is alive in the Australian military, it would appear. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Australian "taxpayers are funding hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cosmetic surgery and fertility treatments for Defence Force personnel". Presumably this is because it pays to look good when you are in action defending your country.

Several plastic surgeons who specialise in breast augmentation and rhinoplasty are retained by the Department of Defence to perform hundreds of general plastic surgery procedures each year.

Most of these operations are for reconstructive surgery after physical trauma, hand surgery and the removal of skin lesions or cancers, but Defence also routinely funds breast reductions and tummy tucks.

The Herald has also confirmed that taxpayers have paid for several breast enlargements which were not needed to address a physical ailment.

Of the 35 breast augmentations paid for by taxpayers between 2004-05 and 2008-09, five were ''for psychological reasons'', a spokesman has confirmed.

One woman in the navy had her breasts enlarged eight years ago because she was embarrassed when changing in front of her colleagues, the Herald has learnt. (Emphasis, ours.)

One wonders whether a similar rort operates in the NZ Defence Forces.