Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has pushed back on calls from the Trump administration for a major boost in defence spending, as the Coalition promised to spend a “much higher proportion” of gross domestic product on defence if it wins the federal election.
Elbridge Colby, US President Donald Trump’s choice to be head of policy at the Pentagon, told a congressional committee he expected Australia to spend at least 3 per cent of gross domestic product on defence to combat the rise of China, as this masthead revealed on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese defended his government’s spending on defence.Credit: Dan Peled
Responding to Colby’s intervention, Albanese told reporters in Canberra that “Australia determines our national interest” and Labor had already boosted spending on the military.
“My government is allocating significant additional resources for defence,” he said.
“That is being rolled out, including missiles, including a range of assets that improve both our capability but also, importantly, our delivery.”
The government announced last year that it would spend an extra $50 billion on defence over the next decade, with spending as a proportion of GDP projected to rise from 2.02 per cent currently to 2.33 per cent by 2034 – still well below the target set by Colby.
Elbridge Colby is Donald Trump’s choice to be under-secretary of defence for policy at the Pentagon.Credit: Bloomberg
Leading defence economist Marcus Hellyer said lifting defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP by the end of the decade would require a “very significant and rapid increase” from the current $56 billion to $106 billion, a 90 per cent funding increase.
Opposition finance spokeswoman Jane Hume appeared to suggest the Coalition was prepared to fall in line with Colby’s funding comments, telling radio 3AW that it was important for Australia to meet “the expectations of our strategic partners”.
Asked whether the Coalition would commit to the 3 per cent figure, she said: “We expect that we will meet our international obligations and if taking defence spending up to a much higher proportion of GDP is the expectation ... that’s where we need to go.”
A Coalition spokeswoman stressed that the opposition had not announced its defence funding commitment, although it has said it would outspend Labor.
Marles said: “Another day and more confusion from the Liberal’s on what they are doing when it comes to defence spending.
“You have the Shadow Minister for Finance saying they need to go to three per cent and you have the Shadow Defence Minister not committing to anything.”
Marles told reporters earlier he “can obviously understand” the Trump administration wanting its partners to spend more on defence.
“That’s a conversation that we will continue to have with the US administration, and we very much understand where they’re coming from,” he said.
“But it’s really important to understand we are increasing that spending right now.”
The Czech Republic announced on Thursday it would lift defence spending from 2 per cent of GDP to 3 per cent by the end of the decade, following a similar announcement by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer last week.
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