Latest news with #Ablong
The Advertiser
6 days ago
- Business
- The Advertiser
PM lashes 'predictable' accusations on defence spending
The prime minister has backed his government's defence spending after a report warned Australia's current levels could fail to address threats. In an era described by authorities as the most dangerous since the end of World War II, the 2025/26 defence budget misses a "crucial opportunity" to prepare Australia's military and defence industrial base for future challenges, according to an analysis released by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) on Thursday. But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has hit back at the report, noting his government had conducted a defence strategic review and would lift expenditure to about 2.3 per cent of GDP within the decade. "(The institute) need to have a look at themselves and the way they conduct themselves in debates," he told ABC radio on Thursday morning. "It's predictable and what we're doing is getting on with the defence assets and providing the investment for those assets to be upgraded." The government has committed to bringing forward $1 billion in funding, though the report says no "significant uplift" is expected until after 2028/29. The nation's strategic environment was deteriorating rapidly, the report's principal author and former Home Affairs department deputy secretary Marc Ablong said. "Australia faces a real risk of being left behind at the very time when the potential use of the ADF as a military force is rising," he told AAP. The government needs to urgently reform Defence so it can better collaborate with industry, said Mr Ablong, who is a senior fellow of the institute. He said the nation needed to acquire capability fast, and attempts to "Australianise" everything through modifications took time, introduced risk and added costs. The report recommends the government commit to funding national resilience measures across the economy and society to ensure Australia is ready to manage potential national security crises. It also calls for improved transparency and for Defence to increase its public messaging. In the information war, Australia needs a defence communications strategy to combat nations with propaganda expertise. "The bureaucracy is being beaten by loud voices amplified by foreign adversaries," the report said. Mr Ablong said Defence culture should be overhauled, with the biggest change being an embrace of risk, while labelling it's decision making process "too slow". He said the military had struggled to integrate women and minorities. Defence was also failing to get maximum productivity out of its people as they treated the "workforce as a number rather than as human beings". On the Chinese navy ships that circumnavigated the country earlier in 2025, Mr Ablong said the nation should have "made it difficult", whether they left Australia's exclusive economic zone or not. The prime minister has backed his government's defence spending after a report warned Australia's current levels could fail to address threats. In an era described by authorities as the most dangerous since the end of World War II, the 2025/26 defence budget misses a "crucial opportunity" to prepare Australia's military and defence industrial base for future challenges, according to an analysis released by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) on Thursday. But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has hit back at the report, noting his government had conducted a defence strategic review and would lift expenditure to about 2.3 per cent of GDP within the decade. "(The institute) need to have a look at themselves and the way they conduct themselves in debates," he told ABC radio on Thursday morning. "It's predictable and what we're doing is getting on with the defence assets and providing the investment for those assets to be upgraded." The government has committed to bringing forward $1 billion in funding, though the report says no "significant uplift" is expected until after 2028/29. The nation's strategic environment was deteriorating rapidly, the report's principal author and former Home Affairs department deputy secretary Marc Ablong said. "Australia faces a real risk of being left behind at the very time when the potential use of the ADF as a military force is rising," he told AAP. The government needs to urgently reform Defence so it can better collaborate with industry, said Mr Ablong, who is a senior fellow of the institute. He said the nation needed to acquire capability fast, and attempts to "Australianise" everything through modifications took time, introduced risk and added costs. The report recommends the government commit to funding national resilience measures across the economy and society to ensure Australia is ready to manage potential national security crises. It also calls for improved transparency and for Defence to increase its public messaging. In the information war, Australia needs a defence communications strategy to combat nations with propaganda expertise. "The bureaucracy is being beaten by loud voices amplified by foreign adversaries," the report said. Mr Ablong said Defence culture should be overhauled, with the biggest change being an embrace of risk, while labelling it's decision making process "too slow". He said the military had struggled to integrate women and minorities. Defence was also failing to get maximum productivity out of its people as they treated the "workforce as a number rather than as human beings". On the Chinese navy ships that circumnavigated the country earlier in 2025, Mr Ablong said the nation should have "made it difficult", whether they left Australia's exclusive economic zone or not. The prime minister has backed his government's defence spending after a report warned Australia's current levels could fail to address threats. In an era described by authorities as the most dangerous since the end of World War II, the 2025/26 defence budget misses a "crucial opportunity" to prepare Australia's military and defence industrial base for future challenges, according to an analysis released by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) on Thursday. But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has hit back at the report, noting his government had conducted a defence strategic review and would lift expenditure to about 2.3 per cent of GDP within the decade. "(The institute) need to have a look at themselves and the way they conduct themselves in debates," he told ABC radio on Thursday morning. "It's predictable and what we're doing is getting on with the defence assets and providing the investment for those assets to be upgraded." The government has committed to bringing forward $1 billion in funding, though the report says no "significant uplift" is expected until after 2028/29. The nation's strategic environment was deteriorating rapidly, the report's principal author and former Home Affairs department deputy secretary Marc Ablong said. "Australia faces a real risk of being left behind at the very time when the potential use of the ADF as a military force is rising," he told AAP. The government needs to urgently reform Defence so it can better collaborate with industry, said Mr Ablong, who is a senior fellow of the institute. He said the nation needed to acquire capability fast, and attempts to "Australianise" everything through modifications took time, introduced risk and added costs. The report recommends the government commit to funding national resilience measures across the economy and society to ensure Australia is ready to manage potential national security crises. It also calls for improved transparency and for Defence to increase its public messaging. In the information war, Australia needs a defence communications strategy to combat nations with propaganda expertise. "The bureaucracy is being beaten by loud voices amplified by foreign adversaries," the report said. Mr Ablong said Defence culture should be overhauled, with the biggest change being an embrace of risk, while labelling it's decision making process "too slow". He said the military had struggled to integrate women and minorities. Defence was also failing to get maximum productivity out of its people as they treated the "workforce as a number rather than as human beings". On the Chinese navy ships that circumnavigated the country earlier in 2025, Mr Ablong said the nation should have "made it difficult", whether they left Australia's exclusive economic zone or not. The prime minister has backed his government's defence spending after a report warned Australia's current levels could fail to address threats. In an era described by authorities as the most dangerous since the end of World War II, the 2025/26 defence budget misses a "crucial opportunity" to prepare Australia's military and defence industrial base for future challenges, according to an analysis released by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) on Thursday. But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has hit back at the report, noting his government had conducted a defence strategic review and would lift expenditure to about 2.3 per cent of GDP within the decade. "(The institute) need to have a look at themselves and the way they conduct themselves in debates," he told ABC radio on Thursday morning. "It's predictable and what we're doing is getting on with the defence assets and providing the investment for those assets to be upgraded." The government has committed to bringing forward $1 billion in funding, though the report says no "significant uplift" is expected until after 2028/29. The nation's strategic environment was deteriorating rapidly, the report's principal author and former Home Affairs department deputy secretary Marc Ablong said. "Australia faces a real risk of being left behind at the very time when the potential use of the ADF as a military force is rising," he told AAP. The government needs to urgently reform Defence so it can better collaborate with industry, said Mr Ablong, who is a senior fellow of the institute. He said the nation needed to acquire capability fast, and attempts to "Australianise" everything through modifications took time, introduced risk and added costs. The report recommends the government commit to funding national resilience measures across the economy and society to ensure Australia is ready to manage potential national security crises. It also calls for improved transparency and for Defence to increase its public messaging. In the information war, Australia needs a defence communications strategy to combat nations with propaganda expertise. "The bureaucracy is being beaten by loud voices amplified by foreign adversaries," the report said. Mr Ablong said Defence culture should be overhauled, with the biggest change being an embrace of risk, while labelling it's decision making process "too slow". He said the military had struggled to integrate women and minorities. Defence was also failing to get maximum productivity out of its people as they treated the "workforce as a number rather than as human beings". On the Chinese navy ships that circumnavigated the country earlier in 2025, Mr Ablong said the nation should have "made it difficult", whether they left Australia's exclusive economic zone or not.
Herald Sun
6 days ago
- Business
- Herald Sun
Australia's defence spending creating a ‘paper ADF', Australian Strategic Policy Institute warns
Don't miss out on the headlines from National. Followed categories will be added to My News. Australia must boost its immediate readiness to go to war or risk having a 'paper ADF', a leading defence think tank warns. In a report published on Thursday, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) said that while Labor was spending on longer-term projects it was not pumping nearly enough cash into keeping Australia combat-ready in the near term. The report, authored by former Home Affairs deputy secretary Marc Ablong, called for 'defence funding to be increased to reflect the reality of the threats facing Australia'. It said that while the Albanese government 'claims to have made a 'generational investment in Australia's defence', that investment has been put off for another generation', pointing out that the bulk of the billions pledged by Labor would not kick in until after 2029. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute is warning that Australia needs to boost its defence readiness. Picture: NewsWire / Handout With the Albanese government itself predicting a major global conflict by 2034 and analysts warning of a US-China conflict before 2030, Mr Ablong argued that the money was not flowing fast enough. 'While consistency can often be a virtue, it reveals a business‑as‑usual approach to a world now in crisis and conflict,' the report said. 'The rhetoric recognising the threats isn't translating into action to deal with the threats, meaning the government continues to deprioritise the readiness and sustainability of the current force‑in‑being with the largest spending increases on capability sustainment tied to the F‑35 Lightning force ($190m) and Collins‑class submarines ($235m).' It warned that the 'Indo‑Pacific region is undeniably an epicentre of a burgeoning rearmament'. 'Australia is a part of that rearmament, although others are moving much faster than us,' the report said. 'The current military correlation of forces between Australia and our region is growing. 'Consequentially, a central concern we express in this report is the gap between strategic intent and tangible capability delivery.' Mr Ablong wrote that the 'timelines for major acquisitions', such as AUKUS, 'extend well into the next decade and beyond' and did little to deal with immediate threats. 'While those future capabilities are strategically important, they offer little immediate enhancement, thus creating a 'paper ADF' that lacks readiness for near‑term conflict scenarios,' the report said. 'That prioritisation of future over current readiness contributes to a hollowing out of the force, in which personnel shortages and limited munitions stockpiles exacerbate sustainability concerns.' Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rejected the report's claims. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman Anthony Albanese has hit back at the report, saying ASPI needed to 'have a look at themselves as well and the way that they conduct themselves in debates'. 'We've got considerable additional investment going into defence – $10bn,' the Prime Minister told the ABC. 'We're lifting up our defence expenditure up to 2.4 per cent of GDP, we're investing in assets and our capability. 'We're also investing in our relationships in the region, that's very important as well.' Mr Albanese said the think tank was 'run by people who've been in a position to make a difference in the past as part of former governments', adding that it was 'predictable, frankly'. 'What we're doing is getting on with the defence assets and providing the investment for those assets to be upgraded,' he said. Originally published as Australia's defence spending creating a 'paper ADF', think tank warns
West Australian
6 days ago
- Business
- West Australian
Australia's defence spending creating a ‘paper ADF', think tank warns
Australia must boost its immediate readiness to go to war or risk having a 'paper ADF', a leading defence think tank warns. In a report published on Thursday, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) said that while Labor was spending on longer-term projects it was not pumping nearly enough cash into keeping Australia combat-ready in the near term. The report, authored by former Home Affairs deputy secretary Marc Ablong, called for 'defence funding to be increased to reflect the reality of the threats facing Australia'. It said that while the Albanese government 'claims to have made a 'generational investment in Australia's defence', that investment has been put off for another generation', pointing out that the bulk of the billions pledged by Labor would not kick in until after 2029. With the Albanese government itself predicting a major global conflict by 2034 and analysts warning of a US-China conflict before 2030, Mr Ablong argued that the money was not flowing fast enough. 'While consistency can often be a virtue, it reveals a business‑as‑usual approach to a world now in crisis and conflict,' the report said. 'The rhetoric recognising the threats isn't translating into action to deal with the threats, meaning the government continues to deprioritise the readiness and sustainability of the current force‑in‑being with the largest spending increases on capability sustainment tied to the F‑35 Lightning force ($190m) and Collins‑class submarines ($235m).' It warned that the 'Indo‑Pacific region is undeniably an epicentre of a burgeoning rearmament'. 'Australia is a part of that rearmament, although others are moving much faster than us,' the report said. 'The current military correlation of forces between Australia and our region is growing. 'Consequentially, a central concern we express in this report is the gap between strategic intent and tangible capability delivery.' Mr Ablong wrote that the 'timelines for major acquisitions', such as AUKUS, 'extend well into the next decade and beyond' and did little to deal with immediate threats. 'While those future capabilities are strategically important, they offer little immediate enhancement, thus creating a 'paper ADF' that lacks readiness for near‑term conflict scenarios,' the report said. 'That prioritisation of future over current readiness contributes to a hollowing out of the force, in which personnel shortages and limited munitions stockpiles exacerbate sustainability concerns.' Anthony Albanese has hit back at the report, saying ASPI needed to 'have a look at themselves as well and the way that they conduct themselves in debates'. 'We've got considerable additional investment going into defence – $10bn,' the Prime Minister told the ABC. 'We're lifting up our defence expenditure up to 2.4 per cent of GDP, we're investing in assets and our capability. 'We're also investing in our relationships in the region, that's very important as well.' Mr Albanese said the think tank was 'run by people who've been in a position to make a difference in the past as part of former governments', adding that it was 'predictable, frankly'. 'What we're doing is getting on with the defence assets and providing the investment for those assets to be upgraded,' he said.
Perth Now
6 days ago
- Business
- Perth Now
‘Paper ADF': Dire warning to Australia
Australia must boost its immediate readiness to go to war or risk having a 'paper ADF', a leading defence think tank warns. In a report published on Thursday, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) said that while Labor was spending on longer-term projects it was not pumping nearly enough cash into keeping Australia combat-ready in the near term. The report, authored by former Home Affairs deputy secretary Marc Ablong, called for 'defence funding to be increased to reflect the reality of the threats facing Australia'. It said that while the Albanese government 'claims to have made a 'generational investment in Australia's defence', that investment has been put off for another generation', pointing out that the bulk of the billions pledged by Labor would not kick in until after 2029. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute is warning that Australia needs to boost its defence readiness. NewsWire / Handout Credit: Supplied With the Albanese government itself predicting a major global conflict by 2034 and analysts warning of a US-China conflict before 2030, Mr Ablong argued that the money was not flowing fast enough. 'While consistency can often be a virtue, it reveals a business‑as‑usual approach to a world now in crisis and conflict,' the report said. 'The rhetoric recognising the threats isn't translating into action to deal with the threats, meaning the government continues to deprioritise the readiness and sustainability of the current force‑in‑being with the largest spending increases on capability sustainment tied to the F‑35 Lightning force ($190m) and Collins‑class submarines ($235m).' It warned that the 'Indo‑Pacific region is undeniably an epicentre of a burgeoning rearmament'. 'Australia is a part of that rearmament, although others are moving much faster than us,' the report said. 'The current military correlation of forces between Australia and our region is growing. 'Consequentially, a central concern we express in this report is the gap between strategic intent and tangible capability delivery.' Mr Ablong wrote that the 'timelines for major acquisitions', such as AUKUS, 'extend well into the next decade and beyond' and did little to deal with immediate threats. 'While those future capabilities are strategically important, they offer little immediate enhancement, thus creating a 'paper ADF' that lacks readiness for near‑term conflict scenarios,' the report said. 'That prioritisation of future over current readiness contributes to a hollowing out of the force, in which personnel shortages and limited munitions stockpiles exacerbate sustainability concerns.' Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rejected the report's claims. NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia Anthony Albanese has hit back at the report, saying ASPI needed to 'have a look at themselves as well and the way that they conduct themselves in debates'. 'We've got considerable additional investment going into defence – $10bn,' the Prime Minister told the ABC. 'We're lifting up our defence expenditure up to 2.4 per cent of GDP, we're investing in assets and our capability. 'We're also investing in our relationships in the region, that's very important as well.' Mr Albanese said the think tank was 'run by people who've been in a position to make a difference in the past as part of former governments', adding that it was 'predictable, frankly'. 'What we're doing is getting on with the defence assets and providing the investment for those assets to be upgraded,' he said.
AU Financial Review
6 days ago
- Business
- AU Financial Review
Defence budget misses ‘crucial opportunity' to prepare for challenges
Australia risks falling behind on current defence spending levels with a major re-armament under way in the Indo-Pacific, a report warns. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute released its analysis of the 2025/26 defence budget on Thursday, claiming defence funding fails to address the seriousness of threats facing the nation. The budget misses a 'crucial opportunity' to prepare Australia's military and defence industrial base for future challenges, the report says. Under the Albanese government's spending plans, defence spending is set to rise to about 2.3 per cent of GDP within a decade. While the government has committed to bringing forward $1 billion in funding, the report says no 'significant uplift' is expected until after 2028/29, despite the current era being described by authorities as the most dangerous since the end of World War II. The nation's strategic environment was deteriorating rapidly, the report's principal author and former Home Affairs department deputy secretary Marc Ablong said. 'Australia faces a real risk of being left behind at the very time when the potential use of the ADF as a military force is rising,' he told AAP. The government needs to urgently reform defence so it can better collaborate with industry, said Ablong, who is a senior fellow of the institute. He said the nation needed to acquire capability fast, and attempts to 'Australianise' everything through modifications took time, introduced risk and added costs. The report recommends the government commit to funding national resilience measures across the economy and society to ensure Australia is ready to manage potential national security crises. It also calls for improved transparency and for defence to increase its public messaging. In the information war, Australia needs a defence communications strategy to combat nations with propaganda expertise. 'The bureaucracy is being beaten by loud voices amplified by foreign adversaries,' the report said. Ablong said Defence culture should be overhauled, with the biggest change being an embrace of risk, while labelling it's decision making process 'too slow'. He said the military had struggled to integrate women and minorities.
