Scott Morrison takes aim at Albanese government over defence spending

The former Australian PM has warned the Albanese government needs to lift defence spending in a forum with the architects of the AUKUS agreement. See what he said.

Donald Trump’s secretary of state has sounded the alarm about new caps on defence spending, warning the US industrial base is unprepared to fully fund AUKUS and match China’s rapid militarisation.

But Mike Pompeo, appearing in a forum alongside former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison and his British counterpart Boris Johnson, reassured America’s partners that the pact was “not remotely partisan inside the United States”.

Instead, he said the former president – who is campaigning to return to the White House next year – wanted new alliances because institutions like the “broken” United Nations were “failing to deliver security for the United States”.

In a Hudson Institute event with the leaders who created AUKUS, Mr Morrison called on Australia to jealously guard the pact and prevent it becoming a “like-minded coffee club”.

He said the Albanese government needed to lift defence spending to 2.5 per cent of the size of the economy “to realise the opportunity of AUKUS” by funding a “credible deterrent for the here and now”, before Australia’s nuclear submarines hit the water from the 2030s.

Scott Morrison, Mike Pompeo and Boris Johnson appear in a forum on AUKUS for the Hudson Institute. Picture: Supplied

Mr Pompeo questioned President Joe Biden’s new deal to lift the US debt ceiling that he said would cut defence spending “on an inflation-adjusted basis” over the next two years.

He said the US industrial base was already unable to “deliver against the demands that are being put upon us by the threat that the Chinese Communist Party poses”, adding that while AUKUS was “absolutely necessary”, it was “not sufficient”.

“The Chinese Communist Party’s intentions will not change as a result of a couple more nuclear-powered submarines in the Pacific,” Mr Pompeo said.

“They’re in this for the long haul. That will require us to do the same.”

Reflecting on the origins of AUKUS, Mr Johnson said it would not have been possible had the UK remained part of the European Union.

He praised Mr Morrison’s bravery for ripping up a French contract for diesel-powered submarines when it was “obvious to everybody” that they would not meet Australia’s needs in the Indo-Pacific.

“A bit of plaster came off the ceiling in the Élysée Palace … but I think realistically (French President) Emmanuel (Macron) could see the point,” Mr Johnson said.

Mr Morrison said the French-made submarines would have been “obsolete before they even got wet”, as he also hit back at critics of his diplomatic efforts with Mr Macron.

“Had they been given the opportunity, I think we would have seen an armada of French diplomats descending going across the Atlantic to see this ended,” he said.

The former prime minister said Japan would be “the first cab off the rank” to join AUKUS, potentially on a project-by-project basis, but he warned new partners had to be “bringing something to the table”.

“This has to stay top shelf all the way,” Mr Morrison said.

He shared Mr Pompeo’s concerns that China was “planning and preparing to be able to do something” in Taiwan, but he argued such an action was not as imminent as predicted by others because AUKUS and the Quad partnership had bolstered “credible deterrents”.