Dutton heeds Trump’s call on defence, vows to massively outspend Labor

The Coalition has moved to outflank Labor on national security by vowing to inject an extra $21 billion into defence by the end of the decade in one of its major election commitments.

The Coalition will promise to significantly outspend Labor by increasing defence spending to 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030 and to 3 per cent over the next 10 years, matching the ambitious target called for by the Trump administration.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has vowed to significantly outspend Labor on defence. Credit: James Brickwood

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie will announce the spending pledge in Perth on Wednesday as the Coalition seeks to arrest drooping poll numbers and re-energise its election bid after the death of Pope Francis led both major parties to suspend campaigning on Tuesday.

Defence came to the fore of the campaign when reports emerged last week that Russia had sought to base long-range aircraft in Indonesia, less than 1400 kilometres from Australia.

Elbridge Colby, a senior Defence official in the Trump administration, urged Australia to lift defence spending to at least 3 per cent of GDP to counter the rise of China earlier this year, a call backed by former Labor leader Kim Beazley.

Defence spending is projected to rise from 2.02 per cent of GDP this year to 2.3 per cent by 2034 under Labor, making the Coalition’s 3 per cent long-term pledge significantly more ambitious.

“The prime minister and the deputy prime minister regularly tell Australians that we live in the most precarious period since the end of the Second World War. Yet, over the last three years, Labor has done nothing about it, other than rip money out of defence, weakening strength and morale,” Dutton said in a statement.

“The Coalition will strengthen the Australian Defence Force and support our servicemen and women to keep us safe today and into generations ahead.”

The current defence budget is $56 billion a year and is set to rise to $100 billion annually by 2034 under Labor’s projections.

A raft of experts, including former Australian Defence Force chief Angus Houston, former Defence Department boss Dennis Richardson and former Home Affairs Department boss Mike Pezzullo, have also called for defence spending to rise to 3 per cent of GDP to meet the nation’s strategic challenges.

Hastie, who has faced questions about his absence from the campaign so far, said: “There must be a sense of urgency to equipping the ADF and rebuilding our sovereign defence industrial base following three years of neglect under Labor.

“A Dutton Coalition government will back Australian workers and businesses in defence industry to develop the sovereign capabilities our country needs. They are a critical enabler to the Australian men and women in uniform.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese taunted Hastie about his lack of prominence in the campaign on Monday.

“They have senior shadow ministers who haven’t been sighted,” Albanese said. “I don’t know where Andrew Hastie’s been. He’s the shadow defence minister.”

A group of defence experts last week warned that the AUKUS submarine program is growing so dramatically that it is approaching the size of a standalone branch of the Defence Force, draining funding for other military equipment.

The authors, from the Strategic Analysis Australia think tank, called for defence spending to be put on a rapid trajectory to reach 3 per cent of gross domestic product within the next term of government, taking defence spending from the current $56 billion annually to $84 billion a year.

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