Labor to bring forward $1b in defence spending to bolster capabilities, budget to show
The Government will bring forward $1 billion in defence spending to boost Australia’s military capability, amid growing calls by experts and the Trump Administration for a substantial boost.
Defence Minister Richard Marles on Monday confirmed Tuesday’s budget would show a $10.6 billion increase in defence funding over the next four years, with $9.6bn of that already announced.
“(This funding increase) is the most significant increase in defence spending in peacetime Australia since the end of the Second World War,” he said at the Avalon Airshow.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“Part of the $10.6bn sees the bringing forward of an additional $1bn, and that’s because of the need to accelerate Australia’s capability development.”
He said the additional $1bn will go towards improving Perth’s HMAS Stirling naval base for the upcoming rotation of US submarines, per the AUKUS agreement, progressing the guided weapons enterprise plan and speeding up the purchase of new general purpose frigates.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers had on Sunday played down expectations that the defence budget would be boosted by as much as $5 billion, saying the Government had “already made huge commitments in defence spending”.
“We’re taking defence spending from about 2 per cent of our economy to more than 2.3 per cent in the course of the next decade or so,” he told the ABC.
“An extra $50 billion-plus in defence spending that’s already in the Budget. That’s an important way that we keep Australians safe and make our country and our economy more secure.”
There has been mounting pressure on Australia to rapidly scale up its defence spending, with senior Trump official Elbridge Colby earlier this month saying Canberra should lift its annual spending to 3 per cent of GDP – the equivalent of about $25bn per year.
The Coalition has vowed to spend “much more” on defence, with reports emerging last week it was weighing up lifting the per-GDP spend to 2.5 per cent by 2029.
Officials confirmed to Senate estimates last month that under Labor, defence spending would rise from 2.02 per cent this financial year to 2.33 per cent by 2033-34.
Mr Marles’ revelation came as he announced Australa had receieved the first two of 42 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) launcher vehicles from Lockheed Martin, with the manfacture of the guided multiple launch rocket systems to begin later this year.
