Remembrance Day reminds us what is at stake
Many of those present to hear Greg Melick’s Remembrance Day address at Canberra’s Australian War Memorial had hoped the debate over the nation’s defence funding had died out.
The former RSL president and retired Major General was determined to ensure that wasn’t the case.
In front of dignitaries including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Maj-Gen. Melick called for a “grand strategy” to ensure the Australian Defence Force was appropriately funded — or pay a much higher price later.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“Despite the fact that this nation has been involved in wars more often than not since Federation, I fear we remain complacent,” he said.
“Our Defence Minister is keenly aware of the issues facing his portfolio, so the challenge before him is to convince his colleagues to re-balance our priorities, otherwise in future Remembrance Day ceremonies, we may well regret the conflict we didn’t deter”.
That challenge before Defence Minister Richard Marles — who, along with Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy was also among the crowd — is significant.
Mr Albanese insists Australia is already pulling its weight when it comes to its own defence.
Presently, that spend is about 2 per cent of gross domestic product. So far, Mr Albanese has held firm against pressure from the US — our No.1 defence partner — to increase that to 3.5 per cent. Instead, the Government is sticking to its own timeline which would see spending as a share of GDP rise to 2.3 per cent by 2033.
Mr Albanese has tried to frame that as a victory for Australian sovereignty — a refusal to be dictated to by a foreign power.
That is missing the point entirely.
He is right. We shouldn’t boost defence spending because the US tells us to.
We should lift defence spending because, as our politicians keep telling us, the world is an increasingly perilous place.
A properly resourced defence force is an insurance policy against that risk. At the moment, we are dangerously under-insured.
To our north, China continues its aggressive military build-up. US intelligence services have warned that they believe President Xi Jinping has instructed his military to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. Any invasion has the potential to trigger a broader regional conflict, leaving Australia little choice but to respond.
On home soil, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation director-general Mike Burgess recently warned of “at least three” foreign governments which are willing and capable of carrying out assassination plots within Australia.
Mr Albanese’s recent successful meeting with President Donald Trump sucked much of the oxygen out of the defence spending debate. But it takes away none of the urgency.
External threats continue to escalate. Hostile governments are already engaging in efforts to undermine our security and disrupt our social cohesion.
Adequately funding our defence forces isn’t about giving into demands from the US. It’s about taking responsibility for our own security future.
Responsibility for the editorial comment is taken by Editor-in-Chief Christopher Dore.
