Federal budget 2025: Chalmers closes the door on last-minute defence reprieve

The federal government had previously announced last year that an additional $50.3 billion would be funded into the Australian Defence Force over the next decade, with an additional $10.6 billion invested over the forward estimates.

The per cent defence spend roughly equates to a diminutive 2.1 per cent and will rise to 2.3 per cent into the 2030s. The funding potentially sends international indications that Australia is uninterested in pulling its own weight militarily.

In addition, earlier this week, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles announced a tidy sum of $1 billion would be brought forward from 2028–29 to 2025–26 to enable Defence to acquire capabilities faster.

The federal government instead took the federal budget opportunity to throw the previous 2022 Liberal government “under the bus” regarding defence preparedness.

“When we came to office in 2022, we inherited a mess in Defence. There was $42 billion worth of programs with zero dollars behind them,” a statement published by the Prime Minister’s Office said.

“During a wasted decade, six Liberal defence ministers over nine years, including Peter Dutton, presided over 28 projects running 97 years behind schedule.

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“During a time of challenging strategic conditions, Australia’s Defence Force was shrinking. Almost $20 billion was secretly ripped out of Defence.

“The Albanese government has made significant investments in cutting-edge Defence capabilities. This has seen investment hit record levels over the past few years.

“We are also backing Australian defence industry. Almost 80 per cent of Defence’s annual budget is spent in Australia. Local investments deliver jobs and economic opportunities for Australia and Australians.”

In a case of possible troubles on the horizon, prospective US under-secretary of defence for policy at the Pentagon, Elbridge Colby, has previously outlined that the new US government would advocate for a 3 per cent of gross domestic product for defence spending minimum among Western allies.

Robert Dougherty

Robert is a senior journalist who has previously worked for Seven West Media in Western Australia, as well as Fairfax Media and Australian Community Media in New South Wales. He has produced national headlines, photography and videography of emergency services, business, community, defence and government news across Australia. Robert graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Majoring in Public Relations and Journalism at Curtin University, attended student exchange program with Fudan University and holds Tier 1 General Advice certification for Kaplan Professional. Reach out via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or via LinkedIn.