Defence minister Richard Marles’ April 15 announcement that he plans to increase military spending by $53 billion over the next 10 years show up Labor’s priorities: Boosting weapons’ company profits and shoring up Australia’s position as deputy sheriff for the United States in the Asia Pacific.
It means at least $425 billion of public money will be spent on military technology and infrastructure, taking military spending up to 3% of gross domestic product by 2033.
While US President Donald Trump’s call for allies to raise military spending to 3.5% may have been a factor, it has long been bipartisan policy for Australia to become one of the world’s top 10 arms exporters.
Labor’s announcement confirms it is joining a global military spending surge.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute reported on April 27 that global military spending reached $2887 billion in 2025, rising by 41% over the past decade.
Australia ranks 17th globally in terms of overall military spending, but spends more as a percentage of gross domestic product than China, France, Japan, Canada and Brazil.
Between $94–130 billion will be spent on undersea warfare, including underwater Ghost Shark drones, AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines and infrastructure, Collins Class Submarines and the Bluebottle long-range uncrewed surface vessels.
The rest will go to maritime capabilities, long-range strike systems, guided weapons, land-based systems, air-operations, missile defence and upgrading bases.
The huge amount spent on submarines alone (between $71–96 billion) would be enough to build 160,000 to 216,000 homes.
Retrofitting 1 million homes to make them energy efficient (with insulation, double-glazed windows and draught sealing) would cost about $3.7 billion — less than what is being spent on underwater drones. Making homes energy efficient would save $2 billion in electricity bills a year, reduce energy use by 9135 gigawatt hours a year and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by just under 2.5 million tonnes a year.
That sort of money could fund the construction of high-speed rail from Magan-djin/Brisbane to Gadigal Country/Sydney to Naarm/Melbourne, or fund free public transport nationwide, forever.
More dollars are being spent on building nine Hunter Cass frigates, at a cost of about $7 billion a vessel, than is being spent on Snowy Hydro 2.0, despite that project’s significant cost blow outs.
Labor’s priorities were laid bare when, just one week after Marles’ announcement, health minister Mark Butler announced cuts to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), which will throw 160,000 people off the supports.
Countless hospitals, schools, aged-care and child-care facilities could be constructed. Welfare payments could be raised to the poverty line or higher. All student HECS/HELP debts could be cancelled.
But instead of this, or myriad other social good that should could be prioritised, Labor has chosen to spend billions on killing machines and associated infrastructure.
Marles attempted to justify this waste, saying Australia is facing “the most threatening strategic circumstances since the end of World War II”. He failed to mention that global instability is being driven by the US and Israel, Australia’s close allies.
Sticking to his guns, Marles doubled down on the military alliance with the US in a national press club address on April 16. He rejected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s warning that the rules-based order was no longer functioning and said the US alliance would “always be fundamental to Australia’s defence”.
“We will double down on middle-power cooperation … there is no effective balance of power in the Indo-Pacific absent the continued presence of the United States,” Marles said.
Doubling down on a war alliance with the imperialist US and upping Australia’s military spending does not make us safe; it does the opposite, especially under the Trump leadership.
It also means that vital services are cut, making ordinary working people’s lives even more difficult.
Like some European countries, Labor should also be pushing for peaceful resolutions to the US and Israel’s wars in the Middle East and the US military interventions and blockades against several Latin American countries.
The billionaire arms dealers and fossil fuel executives and their servants in parliament want more war.
Working people have nothing to gain from warmongering. Green Left has been campaigning to help a stronger anti-war and anti-militarism movement to stop this wasteful and dangerous war spending. Help us continue to do this by becoming a Green Left supporter from $5 a month, or making a donation to our 2026 Fighting Fund.