Strategic expert blasts Anthony Albanese's 'bizarre' attack on defence spending report as Australia faces a 'crisis situation'

Sky News AU

2 days ago

Strategic Analysis Australia Director Peter Jennings has blasted Prime Minister Anthony Albanese after he lashed out at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) and refused to meet the United States halfway on defence spending.
Sky News' Sunday Agenda reported Mr Albanese would not accept the US request and would stand by Labor's existing policy of increasing defence funding.
Under the government's projections, defence spending is forecast to reach 2.33 per cent of GDP by 2033–34, up from about 2.05 per cent in 2025-26.
The Prime Minister launched a verbal attack on ASPI last week after it published a report criticising the government's funding trajectory.
'Seriously, they need to, I think, have a look at themselves as well and the way that they conduct themselves in debates,' Mr Albanese told ABC Radio.
'We've had a Defence Strategic Review. We've got considerable additional investment going into defence – $10 billion."
Mr Jennings - who worked at ASPI for years - said Mr Albanese's comments were 'bizarre' and not reflective of someone who wanted to present himself as an 'elder statesman in Australian politics'.
'You know, Anthony Albanese, he shouldn't be so glass-jawed,' he said.
'What ASPI was saying in that report is pretty much the mainstream view of that small group of people which actually looks at defence and security, which is that we are significantly underfunded.'
Mr Jennings said the current defence force was being 'cannibalised' to pay for future submarines, which he said would not materialise for 10 to 15 years.
The strategic expert said Australia was facing a 'crisis situation' which was acknowledged by 'almost everyone that looks at defence'.
'Even those people that don't like the American alliance say that we need to be spending more on defence,' he said.
'So for the Prime Minister to be so sort of mean in the way he picked out ASPI I thought was bizarre.'
Mr Jennings claimed it was one of China's demands of Australia to have think tanks 'shut down' that are critical of them.
'Why is the Prime Minister giving this gift to the Chinese?' he said.
'You know, he really needs to be more broad-shouldered and actually look at the content of that ASPI report, which was pretty good.'
Mr Jennings argued the government had made 'virtually minimal change' to the 2016 Defence White Paper projections, which outline the strategic plan for the ADF over the following decade.
The SAA director said the plan no longer fits the strategic circumstances Australia now faces with the conflict in Europe and the Middle East, and the 'much greater risk of conflict' in the Asia-Pacific region.
Mr Jennings said Australia had been 'riding the coattails' of American security for the past 20 to 30 years and had now been warned by US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth to increase defence spending.
'I'm sad that Australian governments haven't seen their own way to concluding that we need to spend more on defence. But the call from Pete Hegseth is timely,' he told Sky News host Peta Credlin.
"We really should be paying attention to it.'
Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore last week, Mr Hegseth warned the threat of China was real and potentially imminent as he pushed allies in the Indo-Pacific to spend more on their own defence needs.
Mr Hegseth echoed the Trump administration's motto of maintaining 'peace through strength' and stressed the importance of restoring the 'warrior ethos'.
Mr Jennings told Sky News that Mr Hegseth's plea was a 'warning from our closest ally to say we've got to get our act in order'.
The strategy expert told Credlin that China's President Xi Jinping was not going to 'die wondering' about Taiwan and insisted he would make his move by the end of the decade.
'(Defence Minister) Richard Marles at Shangri-La kept talking about a lack of transparency in Chinese planning. That's simply not true. Xi has been telling the military to be ready for war in 2027,' he said.
'He says it repeatedly when he gives speeches. Of course, they'd rather take over Taiwan peacefully, but I think they are more than prepared to do it militarily if they feel they have to. And something in the second half of this decade is going to happen.'
Former chief of army Peter Leahy said the Prime Minister's hesitation to up defence spending was an 'abrogation of the primary responsibility' of government.
'The almost total lack of ­consideration of defence matters during the recent election campaign and the current focus on a far-off distant, enormously ­expensive force demonstrates how willing our politicians are prepared to tolerate risk,' General Leahy told The Australian.
'This is an abrogation of the primary responsibility of our ­elected representatives to provide for the defence and security of the nation and the safety of our servicemen and women.
'Those who wear Australia's uniform place great trust in those who task and equip them. This trust is not being honoured.'
Shadow defence minister Angus Taylor said Australia must commit to increasing defence spending to at least 3 per cent, adding that Labor 'must find ways to finance it'.
Mr Taylor said he worked closely with Andrew Hastie, James Paterson and Jane Hume on the Coalition's commitment to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP within five years and 3 per cent withing a decade.
'The first duty of any government is to protect its citizens. Labor is failing to match this serious duty with funding and action. It needs to catch up or risk jeopardising Australia's safety,' Mr Taylor wrote in The Australian on Tuesday.
'We must move from rhetoric to readiness… We can't afford another decade of 'on-hold' projects. Every delay widens the gap between what Australia needs and what the ADF can actually deliver.
'Defence must be delivered, not just promised.'