Further support for Ukraine will have to wait until after budget

The federal budget will not ­include any new money for Ukraine, but further support for the country’s war effort is to be announced in coming months.

Ukraine's Ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

The federal budget will not ­include any new money for Ukraine, but further support for the country’s war effort is to be announced in coming months.

A senior Labor source said the budget would detail funding for already-delivered reconnaissance drones, however, a new ­assistance package was yet to be finalised.

It comes despite pleas from Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, for the government to commit to 12 months of military assistance in the budget. He urged the government to overcome war ­“fatigue” to help his country expel Russian forces, declaring: “We are in this fight to defend democracy.”

Speaking in London where he is attending the coronation, ­Anthony Albanese wrongly ­declared Australia was “the largest non-NATO contributor” to Ukraine’s war effort. Japan and Sweden overtook Australia in donated assistance last year.

A Ukrainian community-led campaign will step up its efforts to secure more Australian armoured vehicles for the country, urging MPs arriving in Canberra next week to “free the Hawkeis”.

Mr Myroshnychenko said the army’s Hawkei protected ­vehicles were ideal because they were fast and agile, could be used for electronic warfare, and command and control, and could be set up to fire air defence missiles.

“It’s really like a Swiss Army knife kind of vehicle because, once you have this platform, there are a lot of different ways you can use it,” he said.

The Australian revealed last month that Defence was blaming a braking fault affecting the army’s 1100 Hawkei vehicles for its reluctance to supply any to Ukraine. The fault can undermine the vehicle’s stopping power at high speeds but does not affect off-road performance.

Mr Myroshnychenko said the fault was “not an issue” ­because the vehicles were needed on the battlefield, not the highway. Australia has provided $510m worth of military aid to Ukraine.