Why Australia is spending $11b more on warships
The federal government has ramped up defence spending to more than double the navy's surface combatant fleet, in an acknowledgement Australia faces the "most challenging strategic circumstances since the Second World War".
Competition between the United States and China should be viewed as the “defining feature of our region and time”, the Defence Strategic Review said last year. Today, the Australian government unveiled part of its response: a plan to more than double its number of warships, which will grow its surface combatant fleet to the largest since the Second World War.
To get there, Australia will lift its defence spending to 2.4% of the nation’s GDP by the early-2030s, up from the previously budgeted 2.1%.
“This decision that we are making right now sees a significant increase in defence spending in this country,” Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles said at a press conference aboard the HMAS Canberra. “And it is needed, given the complexity of the strategic circumstances that our country faces.”
The extra funding — which comprises $1.7 billion over the forward estimates and $11.1 billion over the next decade — is a significant breakthrough for Marles.
