Anthony Albanese leaves door open to increasing the national defence spend

Anthony Albanese has left the door open to increasing defence spending above the current goal of 2.3 per cent of GDP by 2033, declaring ‘our goal is to give Australia the capability that it needs’.

Anthony Albanese in Perth on Tuesday. Picture: Getty Images

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Anthony Albanese has left the door open to increasing defence spending above the current goal of 2.3 per cent of GDP by 2033, declaring “our goal is to give Australia the capability that it needs” as like-minded countries such as Britain radically increase their investment in defence.

The Prime Minister’s language has been widely interpreted by strategists as an effort to “keep his powder dry” rather than firmly committing to any defence spend increase, ahead of his first in-­person meeting with Donald Trump where the US President is expected to once again raise the American demand for Australia to 3.5 per cent of GDP.

While pushing back against comparisons to other countries such as Britain, which will spend 3 per cent of GDP on defence, Mr Albanese did not categorically rule out lifting Australia’s investment in defence.

When asked whether he was sticking to the goal of getting defence spending to 2.3 per cent of GDP, he said “we’ll continue to invest in our capability and in our ­relationships”.

“It’s not a goal – our goal is to give Australia the capability that it needs,” he said in Perth. “We saw during the election campaign the alternative approach, which was a Coalition that announced $21bn of spending – they couldn’t say where the money was coming from or what it was for.

“If people think that’s a good idea, that’s one road to go down.

“The other road – which is what my government does – is identify what’s the capability that we need and to provide that investment.

“And to also invest in our relationships in the region as well is pretty important.”

Keir Starmer meets British troops in Estonia in December 2023. Picture: Getty Images

Mr Albanese said while US officials were “entitled to express views” on Canberra’s defence spend and refuted the idea that Washington had “overstepped” in its call for Australia to lift defence investment, he stressed that Australia was ultimately “a sovereign nation” that would prioritise what was best for its Defence Force.

“We determine our defence policy here,” he said.

“We’re a sovereign nation that needs to have pride in our sovereignty and in our capacity to make decisions in our national interest.”

On Britain’s commitment to spend 3 per cent of its GDP on defence by 2030, the Prime Minister said: “Good on them.”

“The UK is in a different place from Australia,” he added.

Mr Albanese also batted away the notion that any of the 12 submarines being built by Britain could be transferred over to Australian ownership.

“We have a plan that is for the visiting of submarines, both from the US and the UK,” he said.

“We also have a plan for Virginias to come here in the 2030s, and we have a plan for manufacturing here as well.”

While Mr Albanese seeks to ­appease calls from some strategists, former defence chiefs and ministers and the Coalition to lift spending, the Labor leader will be pressured from the left of politics to keep defence spending low.

Greens senator Sarah-Hanson Young on Tuesday said the billions of dollars being spent on AUKUS were misplaced and would be better used in addressing climate change.

“I think we need to consider, reconsider, how we are spending the military budget we have,” she said on ABC.