A bit of background to the topic, I am actually a fan of naval air power and believe that the RAN should have got into the game earlier, preferably pre WWII or even as early as the 1920s with a conversion of the battlecruiser HMAS Australia, and should still be operating carriers to this day. However it struck me that the efforts expended in obtaining and operating a quite limited carrier capability for just over three decades eventually came to nothing with the retirement of HMAS Melbourne in 1982 without replacement. The end result was an undersized, under equipped defence force with many of its most capable assets being difficult or near impossible to deploy due to a lack of enabling capabilities and force multipliers.
This led my to the devils advocate suggestion that failing to adequately support and sustain a real carrier capability would it not have been better to have never invested in it in the first place. It was very interesting where the discussion progressed before AGRA suggested moving it here to start some real fun.