Australia’s defence budget is set to nearly double over the next decade, while peace research, diplomacy and conflict prevention remain underfunded despite being essential to reducing the risk of war.

Australia’s annual military budget is set to nearly double in the next decade. The National Defence Strategy, released in April, said annual Defence spending would rise from the 2026-27 figure of $63.4 billion to $112.1 billion for the year 2035-36, bringing the total for the decade to $887 billion.

The defence strategy paper states that one of the key goals in a challenging strategic environment is to maintain regional peace and prevent conflict.  It outlines the vast array of measures designed to boost our military might and, we’re told, “deter” armed conflict.

However, the unstated assumption – the greater our capacity to inflict damage, the safer we’ll be – is long overdue for serious examination. By placing our faith in “deterrence”, which can and does fail, the Australian government is failing to support conflict prevention and peacebuilding measures which – in combination with a less bloated military capacity – would be less provocative to others, more effective at maintaining peace, and vastly cheaper.

The key tools for peacebuilding include dialogue and diplomacy, negotiation and conflict resolution skills, and confidence-building measures both regionally and globally. These things all require commitment, training and funding. Yet they remain neglected when compared to the overwhelming focus on military capacity.

As in other fields, research is essential. If we want healthy populations, we do health........

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