1) Why the F-35 is great for Australia
2) Why the F-35 is a dog for Australia
On the F-35 - I am linking two reports given to the Australian Parliamentary Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade. This is a government committee that was fielding questions and responses from interested parties regarding Australia's planned purchase of the F-35. There are two reports.
The first I am linking has individuals working for Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the F-35. They are Air Commander (Retired) Graham Bentley (Director; International Business Development Australia, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company); Tom Burbage (Executive VP and General Manager, F-35 Program Integration, Lockheed Martin); Gary Liberson (Technical Lead Operations Analysis, Strategic Studies Group, Lockheed Martin); and Bradley McCoy (F-22 and F-35 Strategic Analysis, Lockheed Martin). These are the guys who are presenting a pro F-35 perspective.
The second link is from people who present the 'other side' of the coin. There is Michael Price (Managing Director, RepSim ltd). Price was director of the explosive ordnance in the Australian Department of Defence, where he designed, constructed and managed the process in which the DoD came up with official war scenarios and simulations to look at contemporary and future conflicts the Australian Defence Forces might face. He also produced a classified report on the ability of the F-35 to meet the requirements of the Aussies as advised by the Chiefs of Staff Committee. Then there is Christopher Mills (Director RepSim), and Adrian Long (Director RepSim). They describe the work RepSim does for Australian defence. Then there are two gents a number of people here know about - Peter Goon and Dr Carlo Kopp. The two work at Air Power Australia, and they are those type of people that one either likes or hates (although I am yet to see something written about them in the negative that goes beyond 'they are kooks' ...I am most willing to see a writeup discrediting what they say rather than focusing solely on how they are 'stupid').
Look at how long the Eurofighter has been in service, and it's just now getting it's ground attack capabilities.