THE HON ANDREW HASTIE MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR DEFENCE
SHADOW MINISTER FOR DEFENCE INDUSTRY
SHADOW MINISTER FOR DEFENCE PERSONNEL

STATEMENT
LABOR’S DEFENCE FUNDING ALL SPIN AND NO SUBSTANCE

Monday 24 March 2025

The Albanese Labor Government continues to play tricky politics on Defence funding. 

Let’s be clear, today the Defence Minister simply confirmed that tomorrow night’s Budget will have no new additional money for Defence.

And the Treasurer had already confirmed that there would be no new funding. When asked about Defence funding by media yesterday, the Treasurer replied what we could expect to see was “existing” and that “it’s already budgeted for.”

The Government’s announcement today defies calls from policy experts and defence industry to urgently provide Defence with new funding to meet our challenging strategic circumstances.

It is clear Defence Minister Richard Marles has once again lost out at the Expenditure Review Committee table.

This latest spin comes after Labor recently walked away from its own target of increasing Defence spending to 2.4 per cent of GDP with both Pat Conroy and Jim Chalmers now confirming Labor have dropped their target to over 2.3 per cent.

The defence legacy of this Labor Government is $80 billion of cuts and delays.

Only a Dutton Coalition Government can get Defence back on track.

[ENDS]