Australia under pressure to lift defence spending ahead of Trump talks

Today host Karl Stefanovic asked Australia’s Defence Minister one pointed question amid a grilling about our relationship with the US.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles has been grilled on “who is going to come to our rescue” if Australia’s relationship with the US falters amid warnings that conflict in the Middle East could hit fuel prices.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is preparing to hold talks with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of this week’s G7 summit in Canada, in what will be the two leaders’ first face-to-face talks.

Speaking this morning on the Today show, Defence Minister Mr Marles said it was an important meeting and a “great opportunity for them to build rapport.”

Richard Marles (right) appeared on Monday’s Today Show. Picture: Nine

“But as you know, Richard, the issue with the US is they want us to increase our defence spending,’’ host Sarah Abo asked.

“You’ve spoken to Pete Hegseth, your US counterpart. They want it to be up to 3.5 per cent. You’re going to be dogged by those demands by the Trump administration for the remaining three-and-a-half years.

“They’re in power, and it’s hard to argue against it, given we are so isolated where we are and we are vulnerable to our neighbours.”

Mr Marles replied: “Well, the point to make here is that we have increased our defence spending.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles met in Singapore in May. Picture: DoD/U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Alexander Kubitza

“We’ve engaged in the biggest peacetime increase in defence spending in Australia’s history. That’s the fact of the matter.

“And we will continue to look at what we need as a nation in terms of our national security needs, in terms of our defence needs, and we’ll resource it.”

But Today show host Karl Stefanovic pressed Mr Marles on “what leg do we have to stand on.”

“I mean, who’s going to come to our rescue? The US,’’ Stefanovic asked.

“So if the US wants us to increase our spending as part of a relationship that’s been ongoing for a long, long time, then why would we say no?”

Virginia-class submarine USS Minnesota arrived at HMAS Stirling in Western Australia for a routine port visit in February.

“Well, that’s a conversation we will respectfully have with the United States,’’ Mr Marles responded.

“We’ve made that clear as well. And we’ve also made clear that where our defence needs resourcing, we will do it. And we have been doing it over the last three years in, in a way which has seen the biggest peacetime increase in defence spending in Australia’s history.

“And that is a fact which is very much understood by the United States.”

Fuel prices under the pump

Mr Marles was also asked if the conflict in the Middle East would have flow on effects here, most notably, short term fuel prices.

“Well, we’re very mindful of the impact on the economy,’’ he replied. “And you’re right to highlight fuel prices. We’re obviously very mindful of the impact on the oil price.

“And we have seen that go up over the course of the last few days. While this conflict has been ongoing. I mean, it has an impact. It will have an impact on the global economy. That’s what conflicts do. That’s what we’ve seen. You know, with the war in

Ukraine. And that is an inevitable consequence of conflict of this kind.”

Richard Marles said the government urged de-escalation in the Middle East. Picture: Nine

Earlier, Labor frontbencher Amanda Rishworth dodged questions over whether she supports Israel’s war with Iran.

“Obviously it’s really alarming the escalation,’’ she said. “Of course, Israel has a right to defend itself, but we would be urging all parties for dialogue and de-escalation.

“There needs to be … tensions brought down here because the consequences will be significant if it spills over into a wider conflict.”

AUKUS in the spotlight

America’s bombshell review into the future of the AUKUS nuclear power submarine deal could be the “moment Washington saves Australia from itself”, former prime minister Paul Keating warned last week.

Australia made its first AUKUS down payment to the US in February, transferring nearly $800 million to help boost the country’s submarine production.

However, the Trump administration has now announced its biggest AUKUS sceptic Elbridge Colby will head a review into whether the US should pull out of the submarine deal.

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One for a trip to Canada to attend the G7 Summit. Picture: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

In a statement, Mr Keating described AUKUS as being “hurriedly scribbled on the back of an envelope by Scott Morrison, along with the vacuous British blowhard Boris Johnson, and the confused president, Joe Biden – put together on an English beach, a world away from where Australia’s strategic interests primarily lie”.

“The Albanese government had the chance to undertake a review on its own terms when first elected to office in May 2022, but denied itself the opportunity for fear of being seen as dodgy on the alliance,” Mr Keating said.

“Now President Trump’s Pentagon, as it is entitled to do, is subjecting the deal to the kind of scrutiny that should have been applied to AUKUS in the first instance.

“The review makes clear that America keeps its national interests uppermost. But the concomitant question is: why has Australia failed to do the same?”

Turnbull trashes Aussie sub ‘fiasco’

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull earlier warned the deal risks becoming a billion-dollar “fiasco” for Australia, telling news.com.au that the “terrible deal” inked by Mr Morrison had always included a clause or caveat that no submarines will be handed over unless it had submarines to spare.

“So this is a risk that Australia has taken with its eyes wide open,” Mr Turnbull said.

“It will be a fiasco, I think. So that’s one alternative. Another alternative is to go back to France. They’ve been double crossed once before.

Anthony Albanese has confirmed he will meet with Mr Trump in Canada. Picture: NewsWire/Martin Ollman

“It is a debacle. I’ve been saying this for years. It was a debacle when Morrison recklessly entered into it, and it was a debacle when Labor, to avoid a political wedge, went along.

“It’s fundamentally a bad deal. I’m not saying naval nuclear propulsion is a bad idea. It’s a good idea, but it’s, you know, a very expensive one, and you sure you can pay for it.

“But the, but the problem with this deal is it’s so asymmetrical, you know, we give the Americans $3 billion, they only have to give us submarines if they feel they could spare them.

“This whole exercise is designed to get us nuclear powered submarines, but the upshot could be that we end up with no submarines at all.”

‘All or nothing’ deal

Australia’s former US ambassador Joe Hockey said Australia’s defence spending is likely being used by Washington as an excuse to launch a review into the AUKUS pact.

Speaking with ABC’s Radio National Breakfast, Mr Hockey said the deal was “all or nothing”.

“If we don’t get the Virginia Class submarines in 2032, we have no options left. We have no submarines,” he said.

“So this is all or nothing for Australia. And for the sake of our national security, we need to make sure that we can at least provide some deterrent for potential hostile threats to our nations.”

A ex-Donald Trump adviser has sounded the alarm on AUKUS. Picture: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

A former top adviser to Mr Trump has also warned that cancelling the AUKUS pact would be “catastrophic”.

John Bolton, who served as President Trump’s national security adviser, told Nine the review is likely aimed at scaling back AUKUS, or abandoning the pact altogether.

“It’s more a question of how much of a downsize (of AUKUS) they are looking at, including potentially total cancellation — which would be catastrophic, a huge mistake for the US with enormous consequences for Australia and the UK.”

Originally published as Australia under pressure to lift defence spending ahead of Trump talks