US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has asked Australia to dramatically raise its military spending to 3.5% of gross domestic product “as soon as possible,” according to an official readout of his meeting with Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles.
Hegseth met with Marles on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Friday, after which the Australian minister acknowledged the secretary had requested that Canberra increase its outlays “in a very respectful and dignified way.”
While Marles, who is also Australia’s deputy prime minister, wouldn’t say how much Hegseth had sought, a US government readout on Sunday clarified the issue.
“On defence spending, Secretary Hegseth conveyed that Australia should increase its defence spending to 3.5% of its GDP as soon as possible,” according to the statement.
Australia is on track to increase its military spending to 2.4% of GDP by mid-2034, from a touch over 2% now, a sizeable boost but below the levels President Donald Trump has requested from America’s allies. Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Hegseth floated the possibility of even higher spending requests, up to 5% of GDP.
Any additional increases in defence spending by Australia would require the government to find new sources of revenue to finance such an expansion.
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Sunday that Australia would determine its own levels of military expenditure, pointing out the government had invested “an additional A$10 billion ($8.32 billion) in defence.”
Albanese told reporters that his government will “continue to provide for investing in our capability but also investing in our relationships in the region.
