Defence spending boosted

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced a big boost in defence spending. The government will spend A$270 billion over the next decade – up from the A$195b promised in 2016. Morrison wants the Australian Defence Force to primarily focus its efforts on the Indo-Pacific region and make sure it can deter threats and respond with credible military force. It will look at new longrange weapons that could strike ships or land from thousands of kilometres away; test longrange hypersonic weapons; boost cyber capacity and surveillance; and build a network of satellites so Australia has an independent communications network. Australian authorities have raised recent concerns over cyber attacks from China and Russia, terror cells throughout the Indo-Pacific, and the shifting regional power balance between China and the United States.