Defence spending to lift by $53 billion over the next decade as government warns of 'intensifying' risks   :(

ABC News.
Wed 15 Apr


In short:
An additional $53 billion will go into Australia's defence capabilities over the next decade, under plans to be released today.

The government will publish the latest National Defence Strategy, which charts the strategic risks the country faces and the funding needed to meet those challenges.

What's next?
The government says defence spending will climb to 3 per cent of GDP by 2033 under NATO measurements, as it faces pressure from abroad on spending.


Australia's defence spending will climb by $53 billion over the next decade as the federal government says it responds to "intensifying" global risks.

That injection includes a $14 billion lift in spending over the next four years.



The federal government will tomorrow release the 2026 National Defence Strategy (NDS), which aims to map out both the strategic landscape Australia is facing and the capabilities defence will require to meet those future challenges.

The government claims the new funding will take Australian defence spending to roughly 3 per cent of GDP by 2033 when measured using NATO's methodology, which includes defence-adjacent spending in areas like pensions.

The last NDS, released in 2024, warned of increasing strategic competition between the United States and China and of an unprecedented military build-up in the Indo-Pacific.

Recent conflicts have also had a heavy influence on the new strategy, particularly the conflict in the Middle East and the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Australian defence force 2024-10-22 11:10:00
Australia faces the most threatening strategic circumstances since World War II, according to the defence minister.

In a speech to be delivered later today excerpts of which have been provided to the ABC, Defence Minister Richard Marles will say those trends identified in 2024 are only worsening.

"[The strategy] affirms that Australia faces its most complex and threatening strategic circumstances since the end of World War II," the excerpts read.

"International norms that once constrained the use of force and military coercion continue to erode.

"More countries are engaged in conflict today than at any time since the end of World War II, and this is occurring across every region of the world.

"In the face of this, the Albanese Government is pursuing every avenue of increasing defence capability quickly: mostly through bigger defence appropriations but also through accessing private capital."

Building a bigger budget
The $53 billion increase in spending takes into account some projects that have already been announced, including $12 billion towards the upgrade to the Henderson shipyards in Western Australia.

The facility will be used to dock and maintain nuclear-powered submarines under AUKUS and construct Mogami-class frigates in the future.

Government announces billions in spending on military drones
A large military drone in a hangar.Australia's sovereign defence industry.

It also includes between $2 billion and $5 billion on new investments into drone technology, as revealed earlier this week.

The bulk of the additional spending is due towards the back end of the coming decade, like $8.7 billion in 2033-34, and $9.8 billion in 2034-35.

The government has been under pressure from the US to lift its defence spending as a share of GDP, as it places similar pressure on other NATO allies.

At a meeting in Singapore last year, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Mr Marles the US wanted to see a lift to 3.5 per cent of GDP.

Australian defence spending has typically been measured at roughly 2 per cent of GDP and forecast to rise to 2.33 per cent by 2033.

But the government has more recently argued that if Australia's defence bill is to be compared to other countries, NATO's methodology for measuring defence spending should be used.

Under that measurement — which includes some pensions for retired Australian Defence Force members, defence-related funding in other portfolios, housing subsidies for defence personnel and more — the government says defence spending as a share of GDP will climb from 2.8 per cent now, to 3 per cent in 2033.

'Reprioritisations' and 'alternative financing'
Not all of the increased spending will appear on government books when the budget is handed down next month.

The increased spending is expected to be partly funded through the sale of high-value defence real estate, as flagged last year.

But some will also come through what the government is calling "alternative financing", which might include taking equity stakes in companies or investing in government-business enterprises.

The government has also flagged "reprioritisations" within the plans to be released today, but details on what exactly is being axed, cut back or delayed are not yet known.

Mr Marles has said the decisions on axing or scaling back projects are "not easy", but necessary to free up funding for higher priorities.

Three years ago, the government significantly rolled back two army projects — slashing a planned acquisition of infantry fighting vehicles and rolling back planned orders for self-propelled Howitzers.

Any reprioritisations are likely to be politically contentious, with the Coalition arguing defence capabilities should not be cut back in one area to prioritise another.

Shadow Defence Minister James Paterson said the Coalition would review the strategy but accused the federal government of using "accounting tricks".

"Counting money we've always spent on things like military pensions as defence spending is a desperate attempt by the Albanese government to pretend they are finally taking our strategic circumstances seriously when they are not," Mr Paterson told the ABC.

"Australia needs real increases in actual defence spending today to put tangible capability into the hands of war fighters to protect our country. Anything less is an insult to our men and women in uniform and fails to heed the lessons of Ukraine and Iran."

Where's the money coning from?.   :(

whiteknight wrote on Apr 18^th, 2026 at 10:53am:

Where's the money coning from?.   :(

It is an accounting trick.


Defence spending has certainly risen under Labor, though a significant share of the increase results from the AUKUS program the Coalition initiated. But the government’s decision to inflate the headline defence-to-GDP ratio by including pension and veterans’ expenditures – items previously excluded – falls well short of clarity and candour. The effect is far from trivial: the change alone lifts the ratio from just over 2 per cent of GDP to the 2.8 per cent Marles highlighted in his address.

No less important, once the definition is expanded in this way, the additional spending required to reach the government’s 3 per cent target is dramatically reduced to just a further 0.2 per cent of GDP.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/an-accounting-trick-inflates-our-defence-spending/news-story/5e902d8718e15ff358c55c3e22bdeb29


(Marles sounds really gay. Relevant?)

whiteknight wrote on Apr 18^th, 2026 at 10:53am:

Where's the money coning from?.   :(

From the RBA printing money and causing inflation.


You'll need one of these to buy a loaf of bread:

https://media.gab.com/system/media_attachments/files/103/689/342/original/0185558217960b9b.jpg

So now we have a spending problem? Which is of course different to a taxation problem. ::)

whiteknight wrote on Apr 18^th, 2026 at 10:53am:

Where's the money coning from?.   :(

Same old story.

Plenty of money for wars.

None (or very little) for housing, health or cost of living relief of course.

Carl D wrote on Apr 20^th, 2026 at 1:33pm:

whiteknight wrote on Apr 18th, 2026 at 10:53am: Where's the money coning from?.   :( Same old story. Plenty of money for wars. None (or very little) for housing, health or cost of living relief of course.

You’re forgetting the $20 million spent on telling motorists how to save fuel, that’s a cost of living initiative 😃😃😃

Carl D wrote on Apr 20^th, 2026 at 1:33pm:

whiteknight wrote on Apr 18th, 2026 at 10:53am: Where's the money coning from?.   :( Same old story. Plenty of money for wars. None (or very little) for housing, health or cost of living relief of course.

No money for: oil exploration,
or 100 days of fuel storage,
or money to build oil refineries -

that would truly help with our defence -
not just buying expensive toys.