While some of the criticism of the defence strategy announced by Defence Minister Richard Marles in Canberra on Thursday was so extreme as to render itself irrelevant, it is very hard to find anybody outside the government with a good word to say.

Subscribe now for unlimited access.

Login or signup to continue reading

It is also noteworthy that Mr Marles, who was acting Prime Minister while Anthony Albanese was overseas, has been left to carry the load of selling a policy condemned by former army chief turned university academic Peter Leahy as "budget trickery of historic proportions" almost entirely on his own.

At least Dr Marcus Hellyer, the head of research at Strategic Analysis Australia, was fair-minded enough to concede that given the challenges facing the government in the weeks leading up to what is expected to be a very interesting budget, holding defence spending at or slightly above current levels was worth celebrating.

"The steady but not spectacular upwards trajectory in the defence budget continues with a further $14 billion over the four years of the forward estimates and $53 billion over the next decade," he said.

"When the current fuel crisis is giving Treasurer Jim Chalmers a major headache, the fact that defence funding has not only been preserved but increased is a win."

But Dr Hellyer did not get carried away. He, as is the wont of commentators, has made "damning with faint praise" an art form.

After suggesting the government indulged in creative accounting, a polite way of referring to "budget trickery," he cut to the chase: "The........

© Canberra Times