Josh Frydenberg defends defence spending

Josh Frydenberg defends defence spending as analyst calls on PM to consider nuclear weapons.

Josh Frydenberg arrives to speak to the media at Parliament House. Picture: AAP.

Josh Frydenberg has defended Australia’s spending on its military defence as a top security analyst calls on Scott Morrison to consider developing nuclear weapons to defend the nation.

ANU professor Hugh White writes in a new book that Australia can no longer to rely on the United States for its defence and should boost its defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP.

Professor White’s call for a consideration of nuclear weapons is part of a bigger $30bn overhaul of defence strategy and spending he believes is needed to combat a rising China.

The Treasurer today said the country could continue to rely on the US and that the current 2 per cent of GDP spent on defence was enough to protect Australians.

“The ANZUS alliance ... is absolutely essential to Australia’s security,” Mr Frydenberg told ABC radio.

“We’re investing even more in our defence forces, bringing back to 2 per cent of GDP compared to the 1.56 per cent under Labor, which is the lowest defence spending since the time of appeasement back in 1938.”

Professor White has called for the government to scrap the current contract for 12 french submarines and build 24 smaller boats similar to the current Collins class fleet.

The ANU analyst said Australia would be forced to ask the “difficult, uncomfortable” question about acquiring nuclear weapons, even if he felt personally it should be limited to defence missiles.

“It’s made perfect sense for Australia not to contemplate nuclear weapons for the last 40 years because we’ve enjoyed a very high level of confidence in the American nuclear umbrella, but America provided that umbrella because it secured its position as the primary power in Asia,” Professor White told the Sydney Morning Herald today.

“If the chances of [maintaining] that position are much lower, then our circumstances will be very different .... We have to ask ourselves, can we defend ourselves against a power like China?”

“”We need to be extremely careful about how we talk about this and very conscious of the extraordinary cost to us of acquiring nuclear weapons.

“It would make us less secure in some ways, that’s why in some ways I think it’s appalling.”