Albanese under pressure to increase defence spending as US visit looms
It's hardly surprising Australia's defence chief would want more money spent on defence. Any self-respecting member of the top brass would champion an increase in military funding.
But Admiral David Johnston's willingness to make his case so publicly yesterday has piled more pressure on the Albanese government at a critical moment.
In less than two weeks, the prime minister is due to hold his first face-to-face meeting with the US President, whose administration is now openly calling on its ally and AUKUS partner to lift its game on defence spending.
The UK (the third AUKUS partner) is already doing just that, with British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer this week spelling out a new "war fighting readiness" for his country.
Now Australia's defence chief has issued a very deliberate warning about the dangerous outlook facing Australia. He's explained where he fears Australia is falling short. And he's made it clear his budget is under pressure.
The defence chief may not have openly called for a spending increase, but it didn't take a code breaker to decipher this message.
First, there was the choice of venue. Admiral Johnston spoke at a conference hosted by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), a think tank that's accused the government of leaving Australians "less secure" through its "failure" to boost defence spending.
Just last week the prime minister shot back at ASPI, arguing its views had become utterly predictable and accusing the institute of having partisan links (it's currently run by Justin Bassi, a former national security advisor to then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and chief of staff to then foreign minister Marise Payne).
The chief of defence, however, had no qualms speaking at the ASPI event. Nor did he have any problem sharing his views on the spending constraints he's facing.
"Defence is fully expending its budget at the moment," Admiral Johnston said, suggesting there was not a dollar to spare. This was an important point, according to former Defence Secretary Dennis Richardson.
"Very often in the past the defence budget has been under-expended, under-utilised and that's been used as an argument against increasing the defence budget," Richardson told the ABC.
"We're now in a position where defence is spending every dollar allocated to it."
Indeed, the defence budget was under "pressure", Admiral Johnston argued, requiring "choices" to be made.
The defence chief said he would always give the government "frank" advice on the spending required. And he was certainly frank in describing the strategic outlook from his perspective.
For the first time since World War II, he said, "we're having to reconsider Australia as a homeland from which we will conduct combat operations." In case anyone missed the point, the defence chief said it again.
"We may need to operate and conduct combat operations from this country."
This goes beyond the warnings delivered in last year's National Defence Strategy about Australia facing the "most challenging strategic environment" since WWII and the end of a 10-year strategic warning time for conflict.
This was the head of Australia's defence force publicly warning of the potential for war fighting on or from Australian soil.
And just in case anyone was under the impression Australia is well equipped to fight from and defend its northern bases, Admiral Johnston listed the many challenges currently facing our "northern infrastructure". These included limited fuel storage, long supply chains, a lack of adequate medical facilities to "deal with trauma" for personnel involved in combat, and an absence of industry capable of rapidly repairing equipment damaged in battle.
His point was to highlight the need for broad investment beyond just the defence portfolio to better prepare Australia for what could be in store. Spending by federal and state governments on health, infrastructure, and industry all needs to be focused on this new strategic reality.
It all sounded rather similar to the "war fighting readiness" Sir Keir Starmer spoke of in the UK. The British Labour prime minister is lifting defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027-28, with an aim for 3 per cent in the next parliament. It's a direct response to the Russian aggression facing Europe and the equivocation of the Trump administration.
"The UK is in a different place from Australia," was Albanese's response this week when asked if Australia should follow suit. The prime minister is not a fan of setting arbitrary spending targets for defence or any other portfolio.
When asked this week about US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth requesting Australia lift its spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP, Albanese says his preferred approach is to identify what's needed and then "provide that investment".
Treasurer Jim Chalmers, who's facing spending pressures across the board and a structural budget deficit, sounds even less interested in pouring more into defence. He points to the extra spending already allocated under the AUKUS plan as responsible and substantial.
"There are always people who say we should spend more on defence, there'll be a lot of people who say we should spend less on defence," Chalmers said yesterday.
That's no doubt true, but the chorus of those saying more should be spent is growing louder.
The chief of defence certainly wasn't calming that chorus down. He's not weighing into the argument about precise GDP spending levels, but he has now pointed out the defence budget is stretched, and warned Australia needs to think about combat readiness much closer to home.
David Speers is national political lead and host of Insiders, which airs on ABC TV at 9am on Sunday or on iview.
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