Speaking at the Australian National Press Club, Marles introduced the “Integrated Investment Program” (IIP), which includes a plan to increase the country’s defense budget, and the 2024 National Defense Strategy, ABC News reported.
Marles stated that $ 50 billion will be added to Australia’s defense budget over a 10-year period, and that $ 72.8 billion can be used in defense spending by reorganizing existing expenditures.
Under the new plan, the government will provide more than $1 billion to develop long-range missiles, targeting and autonomous weapons systems, Minister Marles said.
Emphasizing that the government should focus on the Asia Pacific region for the defense of the country and not be limited to protecting the country’s borders, Marles said, “Invasion of Australia is unlikely in any scenario because the enemy can do a lot of damage (to the country) without setting foot on Australian soil.”
Reminding that Australia is “dependent” on trade and imports about 85 percent of its fuel needs from South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia, Marles said, “We are really dependent on the communication network at sea. The rules on the sea route are our everything.”
4,400 deficit in defense
Stating that there is a need for approximately 4,400 employees in the field of defense, Marles pointed out that “some people who are not Australian citizens” could join the army through the immigration program.
Noting that the new program announced will focus on Australia’s priorities in the field of defense and aims to protect Australia and its interests against threats, Marles stated that the government has made a “historic investment” in defense.
The program announced that close to $76 billion will be spent on submarine development and other major investments in space and cyber.
It is stated that with this increase in Australia’s defense budget, defense expenditures will be equivalent to approximately 2.4 percent of the country’s gross domestic product in the 2033-2034 period.
In addition, Australia announced on February 20 that it would allocate a budget of 7 billion dollars to double and modernize its navy.
