Defence review warns that Australia must do more to combat risk of conflict

AUSTRALIA needs to spend more money on defence in the face of growing regional security concerns over China, according to a government-commissioned review.

Prime minister Anthony Albanese said his government commissioned the Defence Strategic Review to assess whether Australia had the necessary capability, posture and preparedness to defend itself in the current environment. The public version of the classified review recommended Australia’s government spend more on defence than the current expenditure of two per cent of gross domestic product, improve the Australian Defence Force’s ability to precisely strike targets at longer ranges and make munitions domestically.

Other recommendations include improving the force’s ability to operate from Australia’s northern bases and to deepen partnerships with key partners in the Indo-Pacific region, including India and Japan.

The review called China’s military build-up “the largest and most ambitious of any country” since the end of the Second World War, adding it “is occurring without transparency or reassurance to the Indo-Pacific region of China’s strategic intent”. “For the first time in 80 years, we must take a first-principles approach as to how we manage and seek to avoid the highest level of strategic risk we now face as a nation: the prospect of major conflict in the region that directly threatens our national interest,” the review said.

For the past five decades, Australia’s defence policy had been aimed at deterring and responding to potential low-level threats from a small or middle-power neighbours. “This approach is no longer fit for purpose,” the review said.

Mr Albanese said: “We support the strategic direction and key findings set out in the review, which will strengthen our national security and ensure our readiness for future challenges.”