Scott Morrison announces $38b boost to grow Australia’s military to 101,000 personnel by 2040

Signalling Queensland’s importance to national security, Prime Minister Scott Morrison will use Brisbane as a platform to announce a major $38 billion plan to grow Australia’s military to more than 101,000 personnel.

Australia’s military will swell by a third to more than 101,000 personnel over the next two decades, in a move the Prime Minister declared is necessary amid an “increasingly uncertain” world.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will announce the major $38bn Defence expansion in Brisbane on Thursday, signalling Queensland’s importance to national security.

The significant increase in warfighting capabilities comes just days after Mr Morrison warned Australia was facing the “most difficult and dangerous security environment” in 80 years.

Under the plan the Australian Defence Force would increase by 18,500 personnel to more than 101,000 — almost equal the population of Toowoomba — by 2040.

This includes the “critical minimum” 12,500 extra personnel Defence stated it needed in order to support its existing plans,

Military leaders had also recommended an additional 6000 recruits in part to prepare for future needs, including the nuclear submarine fleet.

Australian Army soldier Lance Corporal Danny Daniels from the North-West Mobile Force.

The expansion — signed off by the national security committee of cabinet in November last year — includes establishing a regiment for information warfare and expanding Australia’s reach into space.

Queensland, alongside New South Wales and the ACT, will receive the most recruits — gaining up to 1875 personnel under the “critical minimum” expansion alone.

Where the other 6000 will be deployed has not yet been finalised.

Mr Morrison said the world was “becoming increasingly important” and expanding the military was needed to protect Australia’s “national interest”.

“You can’t flick a switch to increase your army, navy and air force overnight,” he said.

“Growing the type of people and skills we need to face the threats of the future takes time, so we must start now so critical skills can be taught and experience gained.

Speaking to the Lowy Institute this week Mr Morrison said the rules-based international order was “under assault” from a “new arc of autocracy”, labelling the invasion of Ukraine “the latest example of an authoritarian regime seeking to challenge the status quo through threats and violence”.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese was also set to deliver a major speech on national security on Thursday, where he will commit to spending at least 2 per cent of GDP on defence after it fell to 1.6 per cent when Labor was last in power — the lowest level since 1938.

Mr Albanese will stamp national security as his top priority, saying his strategy includes economic, cyber, energy and environmental security, as well as reforms to strengthen faith in Australia’s democratic institutions to defend against “the threat of modern authoritarianism”.

“The search for false distinctions between the government and opposition on China is not in Australia’s national interest,” Mr Albanese will say.