Karoline Leavitt, Donald Trump’s press secretary, said the recent move by NATO member states to raise defence spending to 3.5 per cent of their GDP should be a model for Australia.
“If our allies in Europe and our NATO allies can do it – I think our allies and our friends in the Asia-Pacific region can do it as well,” she told reporters today at a press conference.
Albanese today said Australia would not be swayed further.
“We have lifted our spending,” he said.
“We are providing for our defence investment, including $57 billion of additional investment.
“I have said very clearly we will invest in the capability that Australia needs.”
Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles announced in April last year that the federal government would invest an extra $50.3 billion into defence up to 2034.
The announcement took Australia’s defence spend from 2 per cent of GDP to 2.3 per cent.
While most NATO members did agree on Wednesday to raise their spending to 5 per cent of GDP, Spain broke ranks to reject the US request.
In a letter to NATO’s Secretary-General, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wrote that “committing to a 5 per cent target would not only be unreasonable, but also counterproductive”.
“It would move Spain away from optimal spending and it would hinder the (European Union’s) ongoing efforts to strengthen its security and defence ecosystem,” he wrote.
Australia may not have agreed to the 3.5 per cent benchmark, but it has made payments for US submarines under the $368 billion AUKUS pact.
The Pentagon confirmed the US was reviewing the trilateral agreement earlier this month, putting the future of the deal in question.
