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2020 Oz Defence Budget

Apparently gearing up for a more dangerous SE Asia, and particularly a more belligerent China (old idea but new realization) and instability (migration, terror links) in the Indonesian archipelago and SW Pacific, with competition for (particularly off-shore) resources and, potentially, militarization of Antarctica. Hopefully the upcoming UK Defence and Security Review will have a similar result, but I wouldn't bet on it!

'Australia will ramp up defence spending to $270 billion over the next decade as the country prepares for a “post-COVID world that is poorer, more dangerous and more disorderly,” the Prime Minister said this afternoon. Around $90bn of that will be spent on advanced new kit, including “hypersonic” weapons, fighter jets and a cyber warfare capability. Australia will also put its own spy satellites in space.

'It’s a ballsy move designed to project Australia’s military might, show it can hit back if provoked and give it more muscle on the world stage. But Mr Morrison thinks it’s necessary, telling the Australian Defence Force Academy today that, “the Indo-Pacific is the epicentre of rising strategic competition. We have seen recently on the disputed border between India and China, in the South China Sea, and in the East China Sea.”

'In the 2020 Defence Strategic Update and the new Force Structure Plan, released by Scott Morrison today, he announced defence spending would hit at least 2 per cent of gross domestic product in the 2020/21 financial year. The government will give Defence $270 billion over the next decade – up from the $195 billion promised in 2016. The PM said Australia needed stronger deterrence capabilities to “influence their calculus of costs involved in threatening Australian interests. 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,” he said. Australian authorities have raised recent concerns over cyber-attacks from China and Russia, terror cells throughout the Indo-Pacific and the shifting regional power balance between China and the US.

'In the 2020 Defence Strategic Update and the new Force Structure Plan, released by Scott Morrison today, he announced defence spending would hit at least 2 per cent of gross domestic product in the 2020/21 financial year. The government will give Defence $270 billion over the next decade – up from the $195 billion promised in 2016. The PM said Australia needed stronger deterrence capabilities to “influence their calculus of costs involved in threatening Australian interests. 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,” he said. Australian authorities have raised recent concerns over cyber-attacks from China and Russia, terror cells throughout the Indo-Pacific and the shifting regional power balance between China and the US.'


 
Chinese media reaction (my bold); interesting to see what the more mainstream (government controlled) outlets come up with.

'Australia is recruiting 500 additional cyber spies and making its largest investment in digital security after a breakdown in diplomatic relations with Beijing and mutual allegations of espionage activity, reported the Financial Times.

'The A$1.35 billion ($930 million) investment over a decade follows a warning from Scott Morrison, Australia’s prime minister, that the nation’s government, businesses and educational institutions have been under sustained attack from a sophisticated state actor.

'Announcing the new investment on Tuesday, Morrison said malicious cyber activity against Australia was increasing in “frequency, scale and sophistication” and risked undermining the nation’s economy, security and sovereignty. The onslaught came as Canberra’s relationship with Beijing fell to its lowest level in a generation following Australia’s call for an inquiry into the origins of the Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan.'


 
Very impressed with the Aussie’s and to a lesser degree the French when it comes to military programs (Scorpion for example). They appear to have a coherent plan. I struggle to get my head around the lack of strategic vision in the UK. Lions lead by donkeys - the way we burn through money on projects that either get cancelled or end up dead in the water is mind numbing. You’d think Kim Philby was running procurement.
 
How does Johnson's remark about the UK as a (no longer) military superpower stand in context to increased Oz spending and commitment?

Yes, we're not a superpower, but a defence big spender for sure.

Why make that remark if he's not softening expectations for yet more cuts to our hollowed out military?

From his speech yesterday

Key to that agenda is investing in infrastructure projects whether road, rail or and cross-sea links. Spending on schools, police and the NHS is also set to rise. However, most interestingly for the technology sector was the passage dedicated to becoming a ‘science superpower’:

“We have the knack of innovation. We lead the world in quantum computing, in bioscience, in AI, space satellites, net-zero planes, and in the long-term solutions to global warming wind and solar technology carbon capture and storage.

And as part of our mission to reach net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050, we should set ourselves the goal of producing the world’s first net-zero long haul passenger plane jet zero.

And though we are no longer a military superpower we can be a science superpower.”

The R&D roadmap setting out the UK’s path to increasing % GDP spend on research and development is expected imminently and has a clear place in the Government’s thinking of economic recovery and reinvention.




can't we be both a science superpower and military superpower?
 
Very impressed with the Aussie’s and to a lesser degree the French when it comes to military programs (Scorpion for example). They appear to have a coherent plan. I struggle to get my head around the lack of strategic vision in the UK. Lions lead by donkeys - the way we burn through money on projects that either get cancelled or end up dead in the water is mind numbing. You’d think Kim Philby was running procurement.

No UK strategy can ever escape the straightjacket of spending 66% of government spending (or 70% of tax revenue) on Social Protection/Healthservice and Edumacation and still running a £50Bn plus deficit (which is essentially the size of the current defence budget).

Need to readjust expectations of state support or significantly increase tax revenue.

govt spend 20_21.jpg
GOvt receipt 20_21.jpg
 
No UK strategy can ever escape the straightjacket of spending 66% of government spending (or 70% of tax revenue) on Social Protection/Healthservice and Edumacation and still running a £50Bn plus deficit (which is essentially the size of the current defence b

Need to readjust expectations of state support or significantly increase tax revenue.

View attachment 486326 View attachment 486327
Aussie’s new plan is still less than 2% as per NATO military spending benchmark (Aus is not a NATO member). My issue isn’t money, it’s incompetence in how it’s spent on equipment.
 
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