Australia dismisses US demand to lift defence spending | ABC NEWS
The Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rejected a US demand for Australia to increase its defence spending.
The US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth urged Defence Minister Richard Marles to lift Australia’s defence expenditure to 3.5 per cent of GDP during the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
Anthony Albanese says his government’s approach is to fund identified defence capabilities – not commit to a number without being able to say where the money is coming from or going to.
The prime minister says Labor has committed $10 billion of defence investment over the next four years, lifting the spend to 2.3 per cent of GDP.
Subscribe: http://ab.co/1svxLVE
Read more here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-02/us-australia-defence-spend-billions-hegseth-china/105364740
ABC NEWS provides around the clock coverage of news events as they break in Australia and abroad. It’s news when you want it, from Australia’s most trusted news organisation.
For more from ABC NEWS, click here: https://ab.co/2kxYCZY
Watch more ABC NEWS content ad-free on ABC iview: https://ab.co/2OB7Mk1
Go deeper on our ABC NEWS In-depth channel: https://ab.co/2lNeBn2
Like ABC NEWS on Facebook: http://facebook.com/abcnews.au
Follow ABC NEWS on Instagram: http://instagram.com/abcnews_au
Follow ABC NEWS on X (Twitter): http://twitter.com/abcnews
Note: In most cases, our captions are auto-generated.
#ABCNEWS #ABCNEWSAustralia
