More fighter jets would be added to Australia’s defence fleet as part of a multi-billion dollar boost to defence under a coalition government.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the coalition would spend $3 billion to reinstate a fourth squadron of F-35A fighter jets to the Air Force, should he win the upcoming election.
The extra squadron would see 28 aircraft added to Australia’s fighter jets, which would bolster the fleet from 72 to 100.
Dutton said negotiations would take place as soon as possible for the defence force to get the fighter jets, with the hope it would be delivered in the next five years.
“Only the coalition is committed to backing defence by increasing the current defence budget and providing our ADF with the capabilities they need,” he said.
The $3 billion is expected to go towards securing the fourth squadron, but costs of the fighter jets themselves would be negotiated.
Opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie said the funding would be part of rebuilding defence force capacity.
“Our defence force has been driven into the ground. Morale is at an all-time low. We have a recruiting crisis, we have a retention, we have a readiness crisis,” he told Sky News on Sunday.
“We want a strong country, and given today’s dangerous strategic circumstances, we are investing in it so that we can secure the Australian people and our interests.”
Hastie said the AUKUS security pact, which will enable Australia to obtain nuclear submarines, was all the more reason for defence to be prioritised with more spending.
Australia will spend $368 billion to obtain the submarines.
“The ADF is being forced to cannibalise itself. AUKUS is a massive, multigenerational endeavour. It’s a nation-building endeavour. It’s going to be expensive,” Hastie said.
“If we don’t account for the cost, the structural pressure that that will put on our defence budget, ... other capabilities will be cannibalised.”
The federal government said it expected defence spending to reach 2.4 per cent of GDP by 2033/34.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said there were questions on how the opposition intended to pay for their defence commitment.
“(The fighter jets) are a very important piece of kit, but we don’t know where (Dutton) will find this $3 billion from, and he should tell us all about that,” he told Sky News.
“This is the same guy who hasn’t signed up to the $50 billion in extra investment that we have found in a responsible budget to invest in our capability in defence.”
