As part of a long-awaited revision to the country’s armed forces strategy, the Australian government will devote an additional $50.3 billion to defense over the next ten years.
The increase in budget follows the Defence Strategy Review of the previous year, which stated that Australia needed to update its military organization, claiming it was built in a “bygone era”.
When he announced the spending increase and the National Defence Strategy this afternoon, Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles stated, “The optimistic assumptions that guided defence planning after the end of the Cold War are long gone.”
“Large-scale warfare has returned to the European continent, and conflict is once again engulfing the Middle East. These factors characterize our environment, as do the uncertainties and tensions resulting from the United States and China’s entrenched and growing strategic struggle.
“Australia no longer has the luxury of a ten-year window of strategic warning time for conflict.”
Australia will spend 2.4% of GDP on defense by 2033–2034 thanks to the increased expenditure, which is around 0.3% more than anticipated.
That’s about the same as countries like the UK and India, far less than the US’s 3.5 percent, and significantly more than the 2 percent that NATO members are obligated to spend.
Marles highlighted several other areas of the National Defense Strategy’s priority, even though purchasing nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS will account for the majority of military spending for the foreseeable future—up to $63 billion over the course of the next ten years.
These include of purchasing new artillery systems to expand the army’s present 30 km to 500 km range, purchasing longer-range missiles for the air force and navy, increasing financing for drone technology by $18 billion, and purchasing new bases for military installations in the country’s north.
“We have all seen the prevalence of drones in combat, including in Ukraine and the Red Sea,” Marles stated.
Therefore, we are expanding financing for counter-drone and drone capabilities in Australia. We are contributing an extra $300 million over the next four years and $1.1 billion over the next ten years to make this happen.”
However, funding for some projects has been reduced. These include the previously stated move to reallocate $1.4 billion for facility upgrades in Canberra, as well as the reduction of new infantry fighting vehicles from 450 to 129.
“Meaningful change and meaningful focus cannot happen without meaningful choices,” Marles stated.
As no government has ever provided all the funding, it is unrealistic and dishonest to move forward on the pretext that we can handle everything.
“But most critically, a weakness in not being able to make a difficult decision fundamentally compromises strategic planning.”
