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Australian Government To Spend $270 Billion On Larger Military For 'More Dangerous' World

Australian Government To Spend $270 Billion On Larger Military For 'More Dangerous' World

The money will be spent on upgrades and buying equipment like long-range maritime missiles.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

The Australian government is set to announce a $270 billion package to bolster the country's defence force.

The money will be spent over the next decade to get our military in the best shape possible to protect us in a 'poorer, more dangerous and more disorderly' post-pandemic world.

A big chunk of the money will go towards purchasing long-range maritime missiles and land strike capabilities as tensions between China and India escalate.

The two countries have been arguing over a disputed border and there are fears that the local fighting could escalate dramatically.

PA

There have also been territorial disputes between China and countries in the South China Sea over recent years.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Australia needs to have the best military equipment available in case we get dragged into a conflict.

"The risk of miscalculation - and even conflict - is heightening," the Prime Minister warns.

"The simple truth is this. Even as we stare down the COVID pandemic at home, we need to also prepare for a post-COVID world that is poorer, more dangerous and more disorderly.

"Capabilities that can hold potential adversaries' forces and critical infrastructure at risk from a distance, thereby deterring an attack on Australia and helping to prevent war."

Navy Life

The humungous spending offer is higher than the $195 billion proposed in 2016.

The Tindal RAAF base in the Northern Territory will get some upgrades as Mr Morrison describes the area as 'the sharp end of the spear' for Australian and US air operations in the Indo-Pacific region.

One suspected upgrade is a lengthening of the runway, which will allow US B-52 strategic bombers and our own KC-30 air-to-air refuelling aircraft to take off and land there.

The Prime Minister added: "Our region will not only shape our future - increasingly it is the focus of the dominant global contest of our age.

Google Maps

"Tensions over territorial claims are rising across the Indo-Pacific region - as we have seen recently on the disputed border between India and China, in the South China Sea, and in the East China Sea."

The funding package will also go towards strengthening what the Prime Minister describes as the 'grey zone' of defence: cyber security.

In his speech expected today (July 1), Mr Morrison will say: "Disinformation and foreign interference have been enabled by new and emerging technologies. Relations between China and the United States are fractious as they compete for political, economic and technological supremacy."

He will also issue a warning to anyone wanting to challenge us.

"We must be alert to the full range of current and future threats, including ones in which Australia's security and sovereignty may be tested," the speech draft says. "We know what we're about and what we stand for.

"We're about having the freedom to live our lives as we choose - in an open and democratic society, without coercion or fear.

"We won't surrender this - ever."

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: News, Australia