Australia must spend more on defence, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says the government should commit to spending more than 2 per cent of Australia’s GDP on defence.

Peter Dutton has accused the federal government of “putting defence last” after calling to amp up spending towards the nation’s defence capabilities.

Speaking at a press conference in Adelaide on Friday, Mr Dutton said he wanted to see Australia’s total defence spending lifted well above 2 per cent of its total GDP.

“It’s clear that Labor always puts defence last,” Mr Dutton said.

“They’ve always got an area to spend money, and defence becomes the piggy bank for a Labor government that can’t manage the economy.”

Defence funding is forecast to hit $52.6 billion this financial year, or 2.04 per cent of GDP.

The government has pledged this will rise to 2.3 per cent by the end of the decade.

Currently, Australia spends about 2.3 per cent of its total GDP on defence.

Labor came under renewed criticisms for not increasing its defence spending after revelations emerged that Australia’s Defence Force (ADF) was scrambling to recruit new staff.

Defence force chief Angus Campbell told a senate estimates hearing on Wednesday that currently the ADF was operating with a deficit of over 4,300 troops.

The force’s authorised strength is 62,735 staff, with the federal government committing to a goal to boost numbers of staff by 18,500 people by 2050.

“We need to undertake work at senior and complex levels that are required for the building and sustaining of, not just the current force, but evolving into a future force,” General Campbell told Senators.

Critical defence shortages have also raised serious concerns about Australia’s ability to deal with escalating strategic tensions, most notably in the Asia-Pacific and in the Middle East.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told The Australian in January he would “absolutely” oversee the fast-tracking of critical defence capability needs.

“That’s what the strategic ­review was about; it identified some of what we need to do,” he said.

“We are dealing with that. There were so many programs over budget and behind time.”