The federal Coalition says it will spend $3bn for 28 fighter jets so as to add a fourth squadron to the nation’s F-35 fleet – nevertheless it gained’t reveal the place the cash is coming from.
The election pledge means Australia would find yourself with 100 of the F-35s if the Coalition wins the upcoming ballot.
The opposition residence affairs spokesperson, James Paterson, wouldn’t reveal on Sunday whether or not the $3bn could be extra cash or redirected from elsewhere within the Defence price range.
“I’m not going to announce our costings on your program today, nor am I going to announce our defence policy on your program,” Paterson informed ABC TV’s Insiders. “This is the first commitment. You will have more to hear from us.”
Paterson added: “We’ll be outlining all of our expenses in the campaign as normal, all of our costings, at the normal time, in the normal way. This is a downpayment on our commitment to increased and faster defence spending.”
The Albanese authorities in 2024 moved to delay the acquisition of additional F-35 jets below the Joint Strike Fighter program following the discharge of a wider defence technique.
The $3bn financial savings would go in direction of prioritising funding for Aukus and the acquisition of long-range strike, concentrating on and autonomous methods, Labor prompt on the time.
Jennifer Parker, an knowledgeable affiliate on the Australian Nationwide College’s Nationwide Safety School, stated whereas it will be “ideal” to have one other squadron of F-35s, it shouldn’t be a precedence for the ADF.
“We need to step away from these flashy announcements about fighter jets and warships and have a greater look at … the overall pinch points for Defence that we can address quickly,” Parker stated on Sunday.
She questioned whether or not the opposition would have the ability to ship its dedication inside 5 years as pledged.
“It’s not clear we could get on the F-35 production line in any meaningful timeframe.
“I would say there are higher priorities in the next five years including space-based communications, integrated air missile defence, replenishment for the navy [and] the list goes on.”
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The Coalition’s defence spokesperson, Andrew Hastie, informed Sky Information on Sunday that Labor had lower, delayed or reprioritised greater than $80bn of defence spending and the Coalition was trying to improve funding. He stated the F-35 announcement was a “downpayment”.
“Aukus is a massive, multigenerational endeavour … and if we don’t account for the cost, structural pressure that that will put on our defence budget, well, other capabilities will be cannibalised – and Labor have not accounted for it.”
Final yr the federal government stated it will commit an additional $50.3bn for Defence over the following decade, even after making an allowance for cuts such because the $3bn for the fighter jets.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, stated on Sunday the opposition wanted to supply particulars on how it will pay for the extra F-35 squadron.
“I’ve seen the headlines but I haven’t seen the detail,” he informed Sky Information.
“This is the same guy [Peter Dutton] who hasn’t signed up to the $50bn in extra investment that we have found in a responsible budget to invest in our capability in defence. I don’t think he’s thought through what it means for the personnel part of the story, the broader costs of this, beyond the planes themselves.”
