Some may find it strange that the most consequential policy pivot announced in the election campaign went almost unnoticed.

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Strange, too, that it was timed to elude electors in winnable seats who were already voting.

Seeking to justify a dramatic $21 billion increase in military spending over five years, Coalition defence spokesperson, Andrew Hastie, stepped up to the microphone in front of Peter Dutton and explained bluntly "America is moving to an America-first posture ... we have a strong relationship with them but can't take anything for granted."

Outlining an aspiration to lift defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP over a decade, he said the country faced the "most dangerous strategic circumstances since the Second World War".

Many Australians would agree with that diagnosis, terrified that Donald Trump's America has shifted from a global force of stability to a net creator of instability.

More than a million Australians who have voted ahead of election day will have missed this startling Coalition admission that the central pillar on which this nation's security rests might already have toppled.

If it really is the Coalition's clear-eyed assessment that a priority shift is required from hospitals, schools and infrastructure towards a new strategic self-reliance, why did it wait until now to say so?

Its bombshell recalibration was secreted between Easter and Anzac Day, and then was further swamped by the death of Pope Francis.

Only the last of these complications was unforeseen, and yet even the Papal death was not wholly surprising, as evidenced by the fact that Dutton's office issued a written statement within an hour.

There are more questions. Why was it the unknown Hastie who,........

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