Albanese rejects US defence demand
Samantha Donovan: The Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rejected a demand from the United States for Australia to spend an additional $40 billion a year on defence. The US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth is urging Australia to boost its spending to 3.5% of GDP up from the current level of 2%. He's of the view Australia needs to be doing more in the Indo-Pacific region to counter the rise of China. But Mr Albanese insists his government is already ramping up its investment in the military. Isabel Moussalli has more. US
Isabel Moussalli: Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth made the most of his time in the spotlight at the weekend Shangri-La Dialogue, a global security conference in Singapore.
Pete Hegseth: I urge all of our allies and partners to seize this moment with us. Our defence spending must reflect the dangers and threats that we face today.
Isabel Moussalli: In his speech he reassures allies they won't be left alone to face increasing military and economic pressure from China, but asks them to ramp up spending. And if Asian countries need an example, he says thanks to President Donald Trump, European nations are boosting their spending.
Pete Hegseth: NATO members are pledging to spend 5% of their GDP on defence, even Germany. So it doesn't make sense for countries in Europe to do that while key allies in Asia spend less on defence in the face of an even more formidable threat, not to mention North Korea.
Isabel Moussalli: And then there's Australia, which got a specific mention later on. The US Department of Defence published a statement saying Secretary Hegseth conveyed that Australia should increase its defence spending to 3.5% of its GDP as soon as possible. Australia's current defence spending is about 2% of GDP, so meeting that request would cost Australia tens of billions of dollars more per year. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been quick to brush off that demand.
Anthony Albanese: What you should do in defence is decide what you need, your capability, and then provide for it. That's what my government's doing, investing in our capability and investing in our relationships. We've provided an additional $10 billion of investment into defence over the forward estimates. That adds up to 2.3% of GDP is where defence spending will rise.
Isabel Moussalli: Jennifer Parker from the Australian National University's National Security College says the US pushing for more defence spending isn't surprising, but she raises questions about the way it's been handled.
Jennifer Parker: The way it was pushed out really looks like it was trying to wedge Australia, given the recent debates in Australia about defence spending, which makes you ask questions about how close we are in the nature of our relationship.
Isabel Moussalli: Dr Elizabeth Buchanan agrees. She's a senior fellow with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and the former head of Navy research at the Department of Defence.
Elizabeth Buchanan: So it shouldn't be a surprise that we've been asked to spend more. I think it is a surprise in terms of just how brash the US has been about this request. And I really do think the untidiness of how the US Secretary of Defence read out is a real clear signal that Canberra definitely isn't in the driver's seat in this relationship, and we might have known that.
Isabel Moussalli: Dr Buchanan doesn't believe Australia will get anywhere near even 3% GDP, let alone 3.5% in the next decade. She cautions against lifting defence spending for the sake of it.
Elizabeth Buchanan: So I think Australia very quickly will need to start reminding Washington that we have Pine Gap, we have Northwest Cape, we have MRFTI, so our marine rotational force up in Darwin. We do quite a lot that might not be fiscally valuable to Washington, but it does enable US forces throughout the region. So I think it's time that we sit down at a table and just really discuss about what we offer the alliance.
Isabel Moussalli: Dr Buchanan says she hopes those hard discussions happen soon.
Samantha Donovan: Isabel Moussalli
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