Public broadcaster ABC reported that increasing military spending to 3.5 percent of GDP would cost 100 billion Australian dollars ($65bn) annually, 40 billion Australian dollars ($25bn) more than it spends currently.<\/p>\n
Matt Grudnoff, a senior economist with The Australia Institute, said \u201cAustralia already spends more than it should\u201d on defence.<\/p>\n
\u201cWere Australia to increase its defence spending to 2.3% of GDP, we would be the ninth biggest spender on defence and the military,\u201d Grudnoff said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAustralia would be devoting more of its economy to defence than France and Taiwan, and on a par with the United Kingdom<\/a>,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Worldwide military spending increased by 9.4 percent in 2024, the sharpest rise since the end of the Cold War, in part driven by increased spending by European countries<\/a>, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).<\/p>\n The Australian government has already committed to spending hundreds of billions of dollars on US-manufactured nuclear submarines under its AUKUS agreement with the US and the UK in the coming decades.<\/p>\n It estimates that the programme<\/a> could cost up to 368 billion Australian dollars ($238bn).<\/p>\n Hegseth and Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles discussed security issues, including accelerating US defence capabilities in Australia and advancing industrial base cooperation during a meeting on Friday, a Pentagon statement said on Sunday.<\/p>\n Australia\u2019s role in manufacturing weapons components has come under increasing scrutiny amid Israel\u2019s war on the Gaza Strip, with protests outside Australian weapons factories<\/a> and at Australian ports, as well as legal challenges<\/a>.<\/p>\n Albanese says Australia\u2019s position on Taiwan has not changed<\/p>\n Hegseth\u2019s call for Australia to increase its military spending comes after the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Shangri-La Dialogue<\/a> on Saturday that \u201cthe threat China poses is real, and it could be imminent\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no reason to sugar-coat it,\u201d the Pentagon chief added. The US continues to warn of the threat that China poses to Taiwan, which Beijing considers part of Chinese territory.<\/p>\n China\u2019s Defence Minister Dong Jun skipped the conference, which is considered to be the region\u2019s top security event.<\/p>\n![\"men](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/2025-05-31T052856Z_1245257097_RC2TSEA866F3_RTRMADP_3_ASIA-SECURITY-1748844479.jpg\")
Hegseth and Marles speak on the sidelines of the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore, on Saturday [Edgar Su\/Reuters]<\/p>\n