Australia urged to boost military spending by the United States amid 'daunting' nuclear threat from China
Defence Minister Richard Marles has revealed details of a one-on-one meeting with his US counterpart, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, in which he urged Australia to increase its military spending.
The pair met privately on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, where Marles is set to deliver a speech on Saturday warning of China 's nuclear expansion.
Australia's total defence spend in 2024-25 was about $53.94billion, or 2 per cent of GDP. This is set to increase to 2.33 per cent by 2033-34 - but the US wants the number to be at least 3 per cent.
The UK and France have shown more readiness to comply with the US, signalling they will both meet the 3 per cent figure by the end of the decade. The US itself spends about 3.5 per cent of GDP on defence.
Mr Marles said that Hegseth 'definitely raised' the issue of pouring more funding into defence during the meeting, but remained cagey adding that he 'wouldn't put a number on it'.
'The Americans... have engaged with all of their friends and allies asking them to do more,' Marles told the ABC.
'We understand it and we are very much up for that conversation.
'We want to make sure that we are contributing to the strategic moment that we all face, and what Pete Hegseth said is entirely consistent with in the way that the Americans have been speaking to all their friends.'
In brief remarks made before their meeting, Hegseth described the relationship with Australia as a 'partnership as strong and robust as it's ever been, and as important considering the issues we face in the region and the world'.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday slammed the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) after the think tank published a report which claimed Australia could be left with a 'brittle and hollowed defence force' if spending is not increased.
'Well, that's what they do, isn't it? I mean, seriously, they need to… have a look at themselves and the way they conduct themselves in debates.
We've had a defence strategic review. We've got considerable additional investment going into defence - $10billion.'
ASPI is government-funded but also backed by defence and technology companies who would benefit from an increased military budget.
Marles is due to give an address at the Shangri-La Dialogue on Saturday, in which he is expected to call for the arms control framework to be strengthened to keep up with the growing risks and advances in technology, particularly from China.
'China's decision to pursue rapid nuclear modernisation and expansion, which aims in part to reach parity with or surpass the United States, is another reason the future of strategic arms control must be revitalised,' he will say.
'That is a difficult and daunting project.'
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is seen at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore
'The landmark treaties that defined that era of arms control... are just as relevant today as they were decades ago,' he will tell the Singapore session.
Marles will say the assumption that the need for strategic arms control ended with the Cold War has proved 'spectacularly inaccurate'.
'The landmark treaties that defined that era of arms control... are just as relevant today as they were decades ago,' he will tell the session about managing regional proliferation risks.
'As imperfect as they are, strengthening transparency, compliance and risk reduction is key to making them work today.'
The annual gathering convenes the region's defence ministers and senior officials, and typically provides a meeting point for representatives from the US and China to hold high-level talks.
But for the first time since 2019, Beijing will not send a minister to the summit.
Pointing to Russia's previous threats to use nuclear weapons following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Marles will warn of the 'grim, potentially imminent' scenario of global proliferation as states seek security in an age of imperial ambition.
The defence minister will meet with his Japanese and American counterparts for a trilateral defence ministers meeting, with the last held in Darwin in November 2024.
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