Defence Update — Election 96

Election Campaign

The forthcoming Federal election seems unlikely to produce any fireworks and prominent headlines, unless the Liberal-National Coalition has a few surprises up its sleeve. While there is no formal bipartisan agreement between the Government and Opposition on defence policies, the differences mostly appear at the margins. However, at the time of writing, the Opposition’s official Defence Policy had not been outlined publicly.

The Government is standing by a record of producing what it claims is the most modern Defence Force Australia has ever had, even if its size has come down by 10,000 in recent years, and Defence spending is now down to only 2% of gross domestic product, a figure well below those of most western style nations.

Under the Minister for Defence, Senator Robert Ray, the immediate concentration is fleshing out the policy of Defence self reliance, while pushing ahead on regional engagement and maintaining alliances.

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