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Following the release of the 2026 National Defence Strategy and Integrated Investment Program, Defence Connect is pleased to launch a reimagined budget event, the Budget 2026: National Defence Outlook, to be held in Canberra on Friday, 15 May.
Defence Minister Richard Marles has unveiled the multibillion-dollar 2026 National Defence Strategy and revamped Integrated Investment Program (IIP), framing it as Australia’s response to what he described as the “most complex and threatening strategic environment since the Second World War”.
In light of this, the government has pledged an additional $53 billion over the next decade, with total defence spending expected to hit $425 billion through the Integrated Investment Program, with the government targeting defence spending of 3 per cent of gross domestic product by 2033.
But with the budget still to land, critical questions remain about what those numbers will look like in practice.
Budget 2026: National Defence Outlook takes place on Friday, 15 May 2026 at Australian Parliament House and it’s the must-attend event for anyone operating in or alongside Australia’s defence sector.
Defence and Aerospace Lead, Steve Kuper, said: “We’re at a moment where strategy documents are no longer enough, the question is execution. The conversations we will have at the Budget 2026: National Defence Outlook will be honest and open, with the people who are actually responsible for delivering.”
Hosted by veteran journalist David Speers, the day will open with a keynote address from Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy, followed by deep-dive sessions with Amy Hawkins, First Assistant Secretary, National Defence Strategy, and Major General Matt Pearse AO, acting Head of Force Design and Head Force Integration.
The full list of speakers is available here, with more speakers to be announced shortly.
Senior policymakers, analysts, military experts and industry leaders will join them to cut through the noise on what the strategy demands, and what delivery actually looks like on the ground.
Across the day, you’ll hear frank discussion on what the 2026–27 budget really signals for the IIP pipeline; how the National Defence Strategy is reshaping capability planning, force posture, and Australia’s broader strategy of denial in an increasingly contested Indo-Pacific; whether our spending matches the threat; and what those in the know say needs to happen next.
Kuper added: “The budget is the reality check. Everything else is intent. What we’re here to work out is whether the dollars match the direction.”
The pace of capability delivery remains the critical challenge in implementing this strategy, and with sovereign industrial base expectations rising, the pressure on industry to deliver more, faster and with greater certainty has never been more acute.
This is where the conversation happens. Don’t miss it.
“Australia doesn’t get to choose whether the world is dangerous. But we do get to choose how seriously we respond to it. This event demonstrates that the response is well and truly underway, but the hard work is just beginning,” Kuper added.
See the event agenda and speakers here.
Get your tickets here.
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