Opposition renews call for defence budget boost after NATO vote to spike spending

News.com.au

6 hours ago

The opposition is renewing its call on Labor to boost the defence budget after NATO countries agreed to dramatically hike military spending.
All 32 NATO members agreed overnight to increase defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP at a summit in the Netherlands.
The decision is a major win for Donald Trump, who has threatened to drop US military support for Europe if it did not splash more cash.
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles was at the summit representing Australia as a member of the Indo Pacific Four (IP4).
He told reporters in The Hague that 'obviously a very significant decision has been made here in relation to European defence spending', but noted it was 'fundamentally a matter for NATO'.
'We've gone through our own process of assessing our strategic landscape, assessing the threats that exist there, and the kind of defence force we need to build in order to meet those threats, to meet the strategic moment, and then to resource that,' he said.
'And what that has seen is the biggest peacetime increase in Australian defence spending that we have seen in our history.'
Opposition defence spokesman Angus Taylor took a different view.
He welcomed NATO's commitment, saying on Thursday 'we do need to see countries around the world upping their defence spend', including Australia.
'Authoritarian regimes are flexing their muscles,' Mr Taylor told Sky News.
'We're seeing it … with Iran, we've seen it with Russia, and of course, we're seeing it in the Indo Pacific as well.
'And all of that means that we do need to see democratic countries from the West making sure that they're spending what is necessary to make sure we can defend ourselves in these uncertain times.
'The Prime Minister himself has said, these are the most uncertain times since the Second World War, and I think that is absolutely right.
'But you've got to fund your plans. Labor hasn't been funding their plan.'
Pressed on what he thought Labor should be spending, Mr Taylor said 3 per cent of GDP would be sufficient.
'It's incredibly important that we fund the plan necessary for our sovereignty … but for us also to be a good ally of our allies around the world,' he said.
'We're not doing this because Trump is asking for it – in fact, our position was well ahead of that.
'We're doing it because it's the right thing to do in a highly uncertain world where authoritarian regimes are flexing their muscles.'
The Coalition's proposed 3 per cent increase is still well-short of what Washington has asked for.
During a meeting with Mr Marles earlier this month, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth called on the Albanese government to lift defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP.
It ignited a major debate in Canberra and fuelled criticisms that Australia is ill-prepared to defend itself against an increasingly aggressive China.
While the Albanese government has committed record cash for the defence budget, much of it would not kick in until after 2029.
With the Australia itself predicting a major global conflict by 2034 and some analysts warning of a US-China conflict before 2030, critics have argued the money is not flowing fast enough and instead tied up in longer-term projects at the cost of combat-readiness.