The production issue is a big one for the ADF. Unless domestically produced, the numbers it can afford, particularly of big ticket items are invariably too small to make support of them very expensive. The reason why the F-111 was a good deal was 'cause the US produced hundreds of them for their own use, so there was a massive infrastructure in place to support them which the RAAF could tap into. The Vigilante would have been very expensive to put back into production for the two or three dozen that the RAAF would need.
If you want to understand this, perhaps the best place is the passage written in the new book "Battle Flight" where the idea of ordering replacement F-4M Phantoms is discussed for the RAF. There was an aircraft with a massive support base and when the line closed, it was simply too expensive for the UK to order more, after production had ceased (despite all the jigs, etc., still being in existence). Building Tornadoes was cheaper.
The low numbers required for the RAAF for its strike aircraft was too small for domestic production. We needed to ride "on the shirt-tails" of a much larger order.
The fact that 1/ The F-111 never operated out of Malaysia! 2/ The lack of Australian politician spine to support either winning design with a air refuelling platform to eleviate the range issue on the grounds of not upsetting Indonesia. 3/ What was the proposed RAAF Vig's weapons bay arrangement? Fuel, weapons, sensors??? (I would be very interested to know this!!)
1. The F-111 did operate out of Malaysia
2. In-flight refuelling was perceived as expensive. Nothing to do with Indonesia and of course, considering the time period, we didn't exactly enjoy cordial relations with Jakarta anyway. Remember, we had nearly been to war with Indonesia in 1959-60 and actually engaged in conflict with them in Borneo in 1965 during Konfrontasi.
3. No idea. Perhaps Greg could provide the link to the report?
While the RAAF dreamt of nuclear strikes against southern China (which was what the Canberras were originally obtained for in 1950) the reality was that the Government of the Day was seeking an aircraft with the primary purpose of deterring the Indonesians after their acquisition of Tu16 BADGER aircraft from the fUSSR. The 1963 Federal Election was the only one ever fought over defence policy as it's primary issue. The purchase of new strike aircraft, DDGs, growing engagement in Asia were all hot topics. The US tried to influence the decision about the new strike aircraft by proposing B-47Es as "stop gaps"until the arrival of the F-111 and even sent three on a tour downunder. Nothing came of it of course as the B-47E was not configured for conventional bombs and was grossly unsuitable for Australia's needs.
Now there would be an interesting Whiff, an RAAF B-47E. The Vigilante was a fine plane and of course building a Whiff would be an excellent endeavour.