Australia unveils ‘massive’ increase in defence spending

The federal opposition says the government has finally acknowledged Labor was correct in deciding Australia needed 12 new submarines.

“If the government doesn’t articulate in this white paper that the taxpayers’ money will be spent building defence equipment in Australia and particularly the 12 submarines and other warships, then the white paper will have failed”, Mr Shorten told reporters in Canberra.

“In response, the government will strengthen the defence cyber work force and systems over the next decade to deter and defend against the threat of cyber attack”.

“It will set out how we will give our Defence forces the resources they need, the capabilities they need, to keep us safe and to ensure that we play our part in delivering and ensuring regional security”, Turnbull said.

The document outlined the federal government’s military and strategic vision and billions of dollars in spending to modernise the navy and update Australia’s ageing Collins-class fleet of submarines.

The Defence White Paper was last updated by former Prime Minister Julia Gillard in 2013.

Also noted is that “Australia will continue to be threatened by terrorism at home and overseas”, and that the defence force will provide “important capabilities” for domestic counter-terrorism.

He noted defence spending dipped to 1.62 per cent of GDP in 2002-03 under prime minister John Howard. The blueprint also signals a concern about the tensions with China over its militarisation of the South China Sea.

The white paper reveals the government will also significantly boost its maritime surveillance capabilities, buying an additional seven P-8 surveillance planes on top of the eight already announced, and purchasing seven Triton surveillance drones. Defence spending will jump from $32 billion in 2016-17 to nearly $59 billion by 2025-26, almost doubling expenditure in just 10 years.

The story Defence white paper: new submarine fleet to cost taxpayers 0 billion first appeared on The Sydney Morning Herald.