Opposition Leader Peter Dutton will promise a Coalition government would boost Australia’s spending on defence to 2.5% of GDP within five years and 3% within a decade.

Launching the Coalition’s long-awaited defence policy on Wednesday in Western Australia, Dutton will commit to investing more than $21 billion to take spending to 2.5%.

Australia’s current defence spending is about 2% of GDP, and due to rise to 2.3% by 2033-34. The Trump administration has flagged it wants allies to raise their spending to 3%.

Trump’s under-secretary of defence for policy, Elbridge Colby, has said:

The main concern the United States should press with Australia […] is higher defence spending. Australia is currently well below the 3% level advocated for by NATO Secretary General Rutte, and Canberra faces a far more........

© The Conversation