There is no greater responsibility for the Albanese Labor Government than keeping Australians safe and securing our nation's future during a time of global uncertainty.
As the Government announced last year, we are investing an additional $50.3 billion into the Australian Defence Force (ADF), which will now see an additional $10.6 billion invested over the forward estimates. The value of this investment is now $57.6 billion over the decade and is accounted for in the budget.
In the 2025-26 the Government is also bringing forward $1 billion of investment to enable Defence to acquire capabilities faster.
The Albanese Government has put a premium on getting Defence spending on track and delivering projects on time.
We know these investments are essential for maintaining Australia's defence capabilities in a changing world.
When we came to office in 2022, we inherited a mess in Defence.
There was $42 billion worth of programs with zero dollars behind them.
During a wasted decade, six Liberal Defence Ministers over nine years, including Peter Dutton, presided over 28 projects running 97 years behind schedule.
During a time of challenging strategic conditions, Australia's Defence Force was shrinking.
Almost $20 billion was secretly ripped out of Defence.
The Albanese Government has made significant investments in cutting-edge Defence capabilities. This has seen investment hit record levels over the past few years.
We are also backing Australian defence industry. Almost 80 per cent of Defence's annual budget is spent in Australia. Local investments deliver jobs and economic opportunities for Australia and Australians.
The transformation in Defence over the past three years has seen:
- The release of the Defence Strategic Review and the first National Defence Strategy, refocusing Defence and aligning our investment with priority capabilities.
- A growing ADF for the first time in almost four years, including an increase in ADF recruitment application numbers of more than 19 per cent year-on-year for the past two years.
- Increased investment and re-focused investment, including more than $330 billion over ten years through the Integrated Investment Program to deliver a more potent, focused and integrated Defence Force.
