Strategic defence update ‘necessary’, says think tank

The update to Australia’s strategic and defence posture shows the nation embracing a more ­independent stance and greater leadership role, a think tank says.

Australian Strategic Policy Institute executive director Peter Jennings. Picture: AAP

The update to Australia’s strategic and defence posture shows the nation embracing a more ­independent stance and greater leadership role amid a “considerable military build-up” in the Indo-Pacific, the nation’s leading strategic think tank says.

Australian Strategic Policy Institute executive director Peter Jennings said the update had been driven by necessity, given the rapidly evolving strategic environment and argued it was a “strong expression of Australian sovereign will”.

Mr Jennings said the update, which involves a $270bn defence investment over a decade, including on the acquisition of longer-range strike capabilities, was going to be “very demanding” and would “almost certainly cost more than what the government is thinking”.

He said the boost in defence spending revealed that policymakers could no longer work on the basis that, if a foreign country were to become hostile towards Australia, that the government would have a 10-year window during which it could prepare and counter the threat.

“The future is now,” he said. “What this policy statement is doing is really looking to build the deterrent strength of the defence force in the here and now.

“It is not concerned with the design of the force we’ll have in 2040, which is what the 2016 white paper is about. This is about the rapid acquisition of new long-range weapons.”

Mr Jennings said the strategic competition between the US and China was redefining the strategic landscape and that Beijing’s military build-up, conduct in the South China Sea and cyber ­activity were of major concern to the government. Other flashpoints he identified included Taiwan, North Korea and the COVID-19 pandemic.