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As part of a reorganisation of the Australian military, defence will receive an additional $50 billion over the next ten years, with plans to purchase F-35 fighter jets being shelved.
In a major speech on Wednesday, Defence Minister Richard Marles unveiled a $330 billion investment programme and a national defence strategy. He also disclosed that an additional $5.7 billion would be spent over the following four years.
He described the largest increase in military spending since 1949, including a rise in spending on ships and shipbuilding.
"History will judge us not by what we say, but by what we do, and you can only do if you properly fund," Mr Marles told the National Press Club.
The plan comes after a defence strategic review that was published a year ago concluded that the Australian Defence Force was no longer necessary.
By 2033–2034, the increase in spending will bring defence funding to 2.4% of GDP.
In order to help pay for drones and long-range strike missiles, the government will "reprioritize" $22.5 billion over the next four years, which will include cuts to other defence programmes.
By delaying the potential purchase of a fourth squadron of F-35 aircraft under the Joint Strike Fighter programme, $3 billion in costs are expected to be saved.
The rise of China and its growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region along with other threats had created the most challenging strategic environment since World War II, Mr Marles said.
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Andrew Hastie, the shadow defence minister, has been discussing in Canberra the possibility of the government announcing a $50 billion increase in defence spending over the following ten years. The Labour government claims that overall defence spending will increase to 2.4% of GDP in ten years, despite the fact that some projects have been cancelled or delayed.
Andrew Hastie asserted that the Coalition was more dedicated to defence spending than the Albanese government and that this plan would negatively impact the ADF.
Hastie said:
Weakness is provocative. If you want to defend Australia, you’ve got to be strong. You’ve got to make people think twice about having a crack at Australia. And, you know, Richard Marles today made the point that we are a maritime island trading nation.
A lot of our imports travel across the ocean, as do our exports. And so what happens in the Red Sea does matter. We can’t just pretend that we live in the Indo-Pacific, and the rest of the world has no impact on us. Of course it does.
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