PM Scott Morrison Announced Australia’s 2020 Defence Strategic Update To Spend A$270 Billion Under 10-year Defence Plan

Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced Australia’s 2020 Defence Strategic Update, a A$270 billion 10-year defence plan which includes, for the first time, land, sea and air-based long-range and hypersonic strike missiles for Australia. It is built on an assessment that the Indo-Pacific is the epicentre of rising strategic competition, that tensions over territorial claims are arising across the region, that the risk of miscalculation and even conflict is heightening.

Australia has also made its largest ever investment in its cyber security capabilities with a new a $1.35 billion investment over the next decade to enhance capabilities and assistance provided to Australia. Talking about the Australian Government’s 2020 Defence Strategic Update and the 2024 Structure Plan PM Scott Morrison said these two very important documents that will guide our nation through one of the most challenging times we have known since the 1930s and the early 1940s. 

Prime Minister said Despite the many pressures on the Budget - and, of course, during this COVID-19 recession, they have only accelerated - I reaffirm today that our Government's commitment is to properly fund Defence with the certainty of a new 10-year funding model that goes beyond our achievement of reaching two-percent of our economy of GDP this year. 

"This 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, that is more dangerous, and that is more disorderly" he remarked hinting the  emerging conflicts amid shifting geopolitical stance. 

On building indigenous defence capabilities PM Scott Morrison said: "These steps have all been about making sure we have a robust, resilient and innovative defence industrial base, a base that maximises Australian participation and supports highly skilled Australian jobs and local investment, whether it's the small arms and ammunition being designed and manufactured at Force Ordnance in South Australia, or new capabilities such as Boeing Australia's autonomous “Loyal Wingman”, designed and produced in Brisbane and Melbourne."

Australia defence Minister Linda Reynolds who was greatly involved in drafting the Defence Strategic Update  said the recent bushfire season and the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced a further dimension to what national defence entails, now and into the future.

Defence minister highlighted the future challenges in Indo Pacific said: “Defence thinking, strategy and planning have shifted gears to respond to our constantly changing and deteriorating strategic and defence environment,” Minister Reynolds said.

“Australia’s security environment is changing quickly, with militarisation, disruptive technological change and new grey zone threats making our region less safe.

“That’s why this Government will invest in more lethal and long-range capabilities to hold adversary forces and infrastructure at risk further from Australia, including longer-range strike weapons, offensive cyber capabilities and area denial capabilities.

India and Australia recently announced the strategic agreement-- The Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) for reciprocal access to military bases and logistics support besides signing up six more pacts to further broaden ties after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison held first virtual summit.