‘This Will Not Be the Last’: Australia to Provide Largest Military Support for Ukraine

Deputy PM Richard Marles speaks to the media in Tasmania, Australia, on May 3, 2023. Steve Bell/Getty Images

Australia has committed to providing Ukraine with another round of military support to help the country defend against Russia.

On July 12, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles, who is visiting Washington for the NATO summit, announced a $250 million (US$169 million) military support package for Ukraine, the largest amount provided by the Australian government so far.

This comes less than two months after Australia’s most recent support package for Ukraine, taking the total amount of assistance provided by Australian taxpayers to $1.1 billion.

The deputy prime minister said the package would focus on integrated air and missile defence, including ground-to-air weapons systems, anti-tank weapon systems, and other types of munitions.

At the same time, he highlighted Australia’s ongoing support for Ukraine as long as the conflict continued.

“We will continue to support Ukraine. This will not be the last package that we announce,” Mr. Marles told reporters.

“We will continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes for Ukraine to resolve this conflict on its own terms because that is profoundly important in terms of the maintenance of the global rules-based order.”

When asked why the Labor government decided to provide the largest military assistance to Ukraine at this time, Mr. Marles said the Ukraine-Russia conflict was going to be an enduring one.

“I think all of those countries here at NATO, all of us in the Indo-Pacific Four understand the enduring nature of the conflict in Ukraine, and so it’s really important that countries stand up in this moment,” he told Nine News.

The deputy prime minister also noted that the Ukrainian government was very grateful for the new support package.

“There was an enormous sense of gratitude from [Ukrainian] President Zelenskyy, as there has been from Ukraine from the very beginning of this crisis, from the very beginning of our support for Ukraine,” he said.

“In terms of going forward, we continue to have a dialogue with the government of Ukraine about how we can best assist.”

Ukraine-Russia Conflict Will Shape International Geopolitical Landscape

Prior to the support package announcement, Mr. Marles had a meeting with the representatives of the other members of the Indo-Pacific Four group (including Australia, Japan, Korea, and New Zealand) to discuss security issues in the Indo-Pacific region.

The deputy prime minister said the group had drawn lessons from the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

“When we saw on the eve of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a no-limits agreement signed between Russia and China, in that moment, in a transformative way, a war in eastern Europe became completely relevant to the Indo-Pacific, to Australia,” he said

“Because the lessons that will be drawn from that war, good or bad, are lessons that are going to shape the region in which we live. And that is a feeling that every member of the Indo-Pacific Four has.”

World Leaders attend NATO Summit In Washington, D.C., on July 10th, 2024. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Opposition Confirms Support for Ukraine

As the Labor government continues to provide more military aid to Ukraine, the Opposition has also expressed its support for the Eastern Europe country.

At the same time, the Opposition has criticised Labor for not doing enough to assist Ukraine.

In a joint statement in April, Shadow Foreign Minister Simon Birmingham and Shadow Defence Minister Andrew Hastie questioned why the Labor government failed to respond to a Ukrainian request for more energy assistance via coal shipments.

The two shadow ministers also urged the government to transfer a retired Taipan helicopter fleet to Ukraine to help strengthen the country’s defence.

Tackling The Cost-of-living Crisis Should Be Primary Concern: MP

Meanwhile, there have been concerns about the amount of support provided to Ukraine by Australian taxpayers.

Independent MP Dai Le previously stated that the Albanese government should focus on helping Australians suffering from the cost of living crisis rather than let international affairs such as the war in Ukraine divert his attention.

“The war in Ukraine we can’t control, but this is something that the government can actually support the families out here in Western Sydney,” Ms. Le told Sydney’s radio 2GB in 2022.