Topics: AUKUS, US-Australia Alliance, defence spending, 80^th Anniversary of Victory in the Pacific.

 

E&OE

 

WILL GOODINGS:

 

Joining us here on FIVEaa Breakfast, because defence is very much front of mind for this country, and indeed in this part of the country, at the moment, with the AUKUS Pact under review in the United States. That said, some positive signs and sounds came out of the Australian American Leadership Dialogue that took place here in Adelaide in the last couple of days. Angus Taylor, good morning to you, and thanks for joining us. Do you have concerns about any of the decisions the federal government is making at the moment and how they may potentially imperil AUKUS? And I'm thinking of something specifically, like the decision to recognise the state of Palestine, which runs counter to our other AUKUS partner, the United States.

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

 

Well, I am concerned about that. But I think it's a much broader concern. Which is much, there are many decisions that this Government is making, that is making it much more difficult to defend our nation in the most dangerous time since the Second World War, and I think is putting the Alliance at risk. We need to get our defence spending up to 3% of GDP. We'll need to have an Australian Defence Force which is prepared, which is ready, which is agile. Which has sovereign manufacturing for critical capability, like missiles, drones, anti-drones, and so on. And we need to have the people, and we don't. We're well short of the Government's own targets on this. So, on many fronts, the Government is failing. It's falling down. I think the US Administration is deeply concerned about this. The key to a successful alliance is that the members of the Alliance are doing their fair share of the hard work. And right now, we're not. And on this day, the 15th of August, 80 years after that day when Victory in the Pacific happened. It's a real reminder that the threat of an authoritarian regime dominating the Indo-Pacific is real, and we need to get serious about it.

 

WILL GOODINGS:

 

Does doing our share mean lifting defence spending to 5% of GDP, like we've seen the claim made for NATO allies of the United States?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

 

Well, keep in mind, a percent and a half of that is non-defence related, but it certainly means getting it…

 

WILL GOODINGS:

 

Four and up though, it’s doubling what we're spending at the moment?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

 

…Three and a half, yeah, but absolutely it needs to come up. There is no doubt about that. I mean, the problem we're seeing right now is, in order to fund AUKUS, the Government is having to cut funding in other areas, sustainment of our critical ships and other capabilities, not enough people. I mean, we're well short of where we should be, well short of the Government's own targets in terms of people in the Australian Defence Force. And ASPI, who is a thought leader in this area, a think tank, has said that we are at risk of having a paper Defence Force, and that is simply not good enough at a time like this.

 

DAVID PENBERTHY:

 

So, a bit of a sovereignty issue we need to think through here, though Angus Taylor, like it's not up to Donald Trump. It's up to Australia to decide what percentage of GDP spends on defence, isn't it?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

 

Absolutely right, I couldn't agree more. But the point here is this, in Australia, the Government's own defence strategy, is not fully funded. It needs 3% of GDP, according to the experts. So, the point is our own needs demand 3% of GDP. We can quibble about whether it should be three or three and a half, as Americans want. But what's very clear is we're well short. So, this is not about what the Americans are demanding. It's about having an appropriate capability, an effective defence force, being ready at a time which is more dangerous than any time since the Second World War, since victory in the Pacific 80 years ago.

 

DAVID PENBERTHY:

 

Angus Taylor, the Shadow Defence Minister in Canberra for the 80th Anniversary of the end of World War Two in the in the Pacific. Thank you.

 

 

ENDS.