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Albert Palazzo, a military historian and adjunct professor at the University of NSW, said he wasn’t expecting to hear much more on the issue.
Both experts have raised questions about Australia’s defence spending and whether it’s sufficient to cover gaps in capabilities and protect the country’s interests.
Australia’s ‘difficult circumstance’
“That also coincided with the rise of China in terms of China’s military power, which in the last 10 years has rapidly developed.”
“Then, in the last couple of years, that’s against the backdrop of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and what has been happening in the Middle East,” she said.
‘A foolish or risky undertaking’
“This is quite a foolish or risky undertaking on our part and on our political leaders because they should know that whatever the US is promising is only as good as long as it is in the interests of the US.”
“We need to have our own abilities, our own military capability, but we really need to be working very closely with the countries that surround us as well.”
Defence Minister Richard Marles said the relationship with the US has been central to Australia’s national security. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch
In late February, three Chinese warships were confirmed . On Tuesday, Australia’s chief of joint operations, Vice Admiral Justin Jones, confirmed a Chinese research ship had entered the zone on 27 March.
“It’s probably just reinforced what those who were watching closely already knew about China’s capability,” she said.
Australia’s defence strategy
“We want to convince them that if they chose to interfere, there would be a significant consequence for them.”
At the time, Marles reiterated that Australia “no longer has the luxury of a ten-year window of strategic warning for conflict”. This long-standing assumption was dropped in the previous government’s 2020 strategic update.
‘There’s been no change’
“Originally that was the UK; now it’s the US.”
“This becomes the challenge: how do you address that through defence spending?”
Australia’s defence budget
Spending currently hovers just above 2 per cent. The government forecasts this will exceed 2.3 per cent by the early 2030s.
The government earmarked $58.99 billion for defence in the 2025-26 financial year in last month’s pre-election federal budget. Source: SBS News
The government last year announced an extra $50.3 billion in funding for defence over the next decade and $5.7 billion over four years on forward estimates.
She said the only change had been the government bringing forward $1 billion in this year’s budget to “enable defence to acquire capabilities faster”.
Is defence spending enough?
“There are [also] processes, structural issues and workforce issues.”
What has the Coalition said?
So far, the Coalition has pledged an initial $3 billion to add a fourth squadron — some 28 aircraft — to the nation’s F-35A fleet. If elected, it said it would aim to begin delivering the aircraft within the next five years.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton said in his budget reply that the Coalition will announce a “significant funding commitment to defence” this election campaign. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch
The Coalition is reportedly considering boosting spending to at least 2.5 per cent of GDP. However, this has not been confirmed.
“We’ve got to keep in perspective that US exports are a small proportion of our economy, and our defence and national security is fundamentally underpinned — and has been since 1951 — by our alliance with the US.”
Is GDP an effective marker?
When it comes to how much we should spend, she said: “I think the way we should think about that is, what are the capabilities that we need? Where are the gaps and how much is it going to cost?”
