Defence spending
Albanese won’t say if Australia would follow the US to war over Taiwan
After this masthead confirmed the Pentagon wants the question answered, the Prime Minister reiterated the submarine pact was for “peace and security in our region”.
- Paul Sakkal and Michael Koziol
Latest
- Opinion
- Opinion
Bigger defence budgets are more often a prelude to war, not peace
USAid cuts are predicted to kill 14 million people in the next five years. As the world squabbles over defence spending, the deaths are beginning.
- Tim Costello
- Opinion
- National security
As China prepares to invade Taiwan, a reality check: sitting on the sidelines won’t help us
Australia must prepare. China attacking Taiwan is not inevitable, but if it happens, it will become a wide-ranging Indo-Pacific conflict.
- Jennifer Parker
Trump demand on Australian defence spending would leave $200b crater in budget
The mounting pressure from Washington comes as the Albanese government grapples with the ballooning cost of NDIS and pressure from states to spend more on health.
- Michael Koziol, James Massola and Millie Muroi
Cook heads for UK in bid to save AUKUS and build more nuclear submarines in WA
AUKUS has been on thin ice since Donald Trump announced the US will review its stance on it. Premier Roger Cook is travelling to the UK in a bid to get the deal back on track and lobby for more nuclear submarines to be built in WA.
- Updated
- Trump diplomacy
Defence ties with Australia key to Albanese’s pitch in historic Trump meeting
In one of the most important meetings of his career, Anthony Albanese will put access to critical minerals on the table while safeguarding AUKUS.
- James Massola
- Opinion
- Editorial
What’s the alternative? The many AUKUS questions the PM must answer
With news the United States is reviewing AUKUS, fundamental questions – both old and new – have surfaced about the merits of the $368 billion submarine deal. The Albanese government must confront them.
- The Age's View
- Exclusive
- Royal Australian Navy
‘They have never exported’: Shots fired in bid to build new warships for Australia
The contest is heating up between German and Japanese firms competing for a $10 billion contract to build a fleet of new warships for the Australian navy.
- Matthew Knott
- Analysis
- Defence
What will Albanese give Trump on defence? Not much
The prime minister has told colleagues that if they asked for money in the way the US has on defence, they’d be laughed out of the room.
- James Massola
‘We’ll determine our defence policy’: PM pushes back on Hegseth pressure over China
Comments from the defence secretary have also drawn a furious response from Beijing, which says the US risks turning the Asia-Pacific region into a “powder keg”.
- Lisa Visentin
Original URL: https://www.theage.com.au/topic/defence-spending-1mps