Australian Strategic Policy Institute criticise defence spending, Anthony Albanese responds
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended his government’s defence spending plan, after a new report warned the nation was in danger of being left with a ‘paper ADF’.
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended his government’s defence spending plan, after a new report warned the nation was in danger of being left with a ‘paper ADF’.
On Thursday, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute published its latest ‘cost of defence’ report.
Written by former Home Affairs deputy secretary Mark Ablong, the report bemoaned the Albanese Government’s decision to set defence spending at 2 per cent GDP rather than fix a higher figure.
“The contributors to this report agree with the assessment of the strategic circumstances and the need for defence funding to be increased to reflect the reality of the threats facing Australia,” the report said.
“But, while the Australian Government claims to have made a ‘generational investment in Australia’s Defence’, that investment has been put off for another generation.”
The report maintained the Labor party had taken a “business-as-usual approach to a world now in crisis and conflict”.
Among the paper’s eight recommendations, the report urged Australia to lift its defence funding to 3 per cent GDP - the same figure the Trump Administration demanded of its allies earlier this year.
It is the second year in a row ASPI’s ‘cost of defence’ report has lashed the government on defence spending.
However, money was not the only talking point of the report, with workplace retention highlighted as an ongoing issue.
“Retention is as much of a problem for Defence as recruitment, as about 10 per cent of the ADF resigns in each year,” the report said.
The report also claimed the financial incentives offered to retain personnel were ineffective, as money was “rarely the primary driver of people choosing to leave” the ADF.
Responding to the report Thursday morning, Mr Albanese hit back at the criticism.
“Well, that’s what they do, isn’t it, ASPI? I mean, seriously, they need to … have a look at themselves and the way they conduct themselves in debates,” he said.
“We’ve had a defence strategic review. We’ve got considerable additional investment going into defence — $10 billion.
“ASPI regularly produce these sort of reports, you know, run by people who have been in a position to make a difference in the past as part of former governments.”
Mr Albanese did, however, pledge to lift defence spending to 2.4 per cent within the decade.
Defence spending did not feature heavily during the federal election, with the most notable unveiling being the coalition’s vague promise to pump $21 billion into defence.
The bold announcement, made less than a fortnight from election day, was slammed by Defence Minister Richard Marles at the time as being a “pathetic whimper”.
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