Rudd pushes back on US claim that Australia needs to ‘step up' on defence

The Age

5 days ago

Washington: Australian ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd has pushed back against claims Canberra needs to step up its contribution to the collective deterrence of China in the Indo-Pacific, telling a security conference that Australia had already done the things now being asked of it by the Trump administration.
Rudd said Australia led the way in identifying strategic concerns about the rise of China and its military force, citing the 2009 defence white paper he released as prime minister, and had made corresponding changes to its defence strategy.
'Without saying 'we told you so', we did,' Rudd said when asked whether Australia needed to increase defence spending more urgently in response to recent Chinese military exercises in the region.
'If you look at the trajectory of what our government has been doing – reallocation of resources to the Royal Australian Navy, the movement now in terms of nuclear-powered submarines - that consciousness [about China] has been alive and well in our part of the world.'
Rudd noted the high level of integration between the two nations' navies. 'We are cheek by jowl with the United States in the Indo-Pacific. We know what new capabilities are required. We're investing in those capabilities. So we're pretty bullish about our contribution to collective deterrence going forward,' he said.
The former Labor prime minister was addressing the Aspen Security Forum on Saturday (AEST) at a critical moment in Indo-Pacific relations as the US pushes regional allies to lift defence spending and make clearer commitments about what they would do in a conflict involving the US and China over Taiwan or other issues.
Specifically, the Pentagon is seeking undertakings about how its Virginia-class submarines would be used once they are sold to Australia under the AUKUS agreement, and is also calling for the Albanese government to lift defence spending by about $40 billion a year, to 3.5 per cent of GDP.
Confirming a recent news report that said the Pentagon had asked Australia and Japan to clarify what they would do in a conflict with China, the US official leading the AUKUS review, defence undersecretary Elbridge Colby, said the US was urging allies to 'step up their defence spending and other efforts related to our collective defence'.