‘Nothing left for bloody guns’: Ex-army chief blasts political ‘clowns’ for neglecting defence spending

Two of Australia’s most respected former military commanders have accused both sides of politics of failing to back their own warnings of urgent military threats with sufficient defence funding.

A Patriot missile defence launcher fires an interceptor during a test at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Picture: Raytheon

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Two of Australia’s most respected former military commanders have accused both sides of politics of failing to back their own warnings of urgent military threats with sufficient defence funding.

As the Coalition’s cost-of-­living war with Labor threatens its plans for a substantial boost to the defence budget, former chief of army Peter Leahy and former air force chief Geoff Brown said critical strategic needs were being sidelined in an election contest fought over cost of living relief.

“They are just throwing the butter everywhere. There’s nothing left for bloody guns,” General Leahy told The Australian.

“They’re neglecting the clear and present danger that they’ve spent the last two years talking about – the most perilous circumstances we’ve seen in a very long time.”

General Leahy said the ADF urgently needed new weapons systems, including missile defence batteries to protect key bases and large numbers of lethal drones. “You’ve got to think these clowns aren’t looking at the television news and what’s coming out of Ukraine every night,” he said.

Retired chief of army Peter Leahy. Picture: Soldier On

Air Marshal Brown said the AUKUS program was consuming about a third of the defence budget, stripping funding from key capability programs.

“Both sides have misled the public on the effect AUKUS is having on the rest of Defence’s capabilities,” he said.

“We need to have a more independent and a more robust capability than we’ve got, and we need to do it pretty quickly. And I don’t think that’s going to happen under the current funding line.”

The Australian revealed on Tuesday that it could take a Coalition government until the early 2030s to drive defence spending above 2.5 per cent of GDP, despite its attacks on Labor’s funding trajectory.

Peter Dutton refused to say whether he was now looking at a slower defence funding trajectory thanks to his big-spending election promises, but argued the Coalition would deliver on his pledge to spend more on military capabilities than Labor.

“What we have always said is we need additional funding for defence and you cannot live in the world we live in at the moment,” the Opposition Leader said.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton during his time as defence minister in the Morrison government. Picture: Defence

General Leahy said funding commitments beyond the budget’s four-year forward estimates period could not be relied upon.

“They need to take action now to rectify the deficiencies in sustainment and preparedness and readiness,” he said.

“We need to be preparing in a really proactive way. You just can’t bring in new capabilities and think that you’ve got the sustainment; you’ve got the people trained to use them; you’ve got the infrastructure and facilities.

“They just don’t appear. And all of those things have to go through the defence bureaucratic process that is just slow and ponderous.”

Air Marshal Brown backed the Coalition’s commitment to purchase an additional 28F-35 fighter jets, saying the current fleet of 72 jets was “not a robust capability” because aircraft needed to be routinely taken out of service for maintenance. He said all three services needed to be bolstered with more personnel, equipment and consumables.

“Even the capabilities that we’ve got – they need extra crewing, extra ammunition supplies,” he said. “We need to have a credible deterrent. We need integrated air and missile defence for our bases. We need robust combat support capability. But that’s unlikely to happen with the current funding lines.”

Former air force chief Air Marshal Geoff Brown. Picture: Defence

Labor’s former defence minister Kim Beazley has also called for military spending to be lifted above 3 per cent to meet the Trump administration’s demands for US allies to contribute more to collective defence.

But the Albanese government opted against pouring new money into the portfolio in the March budget. Under Labor, military spending is forecast to hit 2.04 per cent of GDP this financial year, rising to about 2.23 per cent of GDP in 2028-29.

Mr Dutton has vowed to spend more on Defence than Labor, with sources confirming a target of 2.5 per cent of GDP, which would require the Coalition to find an extra $15bn a year – and rising – to plough into new military equipment. Two senior Liberals said the target was unlikely to be hit within the four-year forward estimates period, and was more likely to be reached after 2030.