Article by Jack McGinn, courtesy of Business News
24.04.2025
Gina Rinehart has called for the nation’s defence investment to be more than doubled to 5 per cent of GDP, in an address at the Sydney Opera House on the eve of Anzac Day.
Gina Rinehart has called for the nation’s defence investment to be more than doubled to 5 per cent of GDP, in an address at the Sydney Opera House on the eve of Anzac Day.
A day after the federal Liberal Party pledged to lift defence spending from its current mark of around 2 per cent of GDP to 3 per cent within the decade, Mrs Rinehart told a function that the nation’s investment should be even higher.
Mrs Rinehart, who has previously advocated for an Israel-style ‘defence dome’ to protect the nation’s critical mining assets in the Pilbara, aid the nation needed to do more.
“It is my belief we urgently need to do more to defend Australians, starting with protecting our ports, airports, sea-lanes and other vital infrastructure, and significantly boosting our smart sea mines, war drones and Israeli style domes accordingly, and boosting our defence manufacture here in Australia, as well as our budget to five per cent of GDP,” she said.
“Five percent of GDP like Europe is moving towards.
“I have so much more to say on this, at another time.”
The 5 per cent target echoes a call from Donald Trump to the 32 nation members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to lift their defence investment to 5 per cent in January – a position he continues to hold.
NATO’s targeted GDP investment is currently 2 per cent of GDP.
A key figure within the Trump administration for Australia to lift its investment in defence to 3 per cent, and the US is currently spending just over 3.3 per cent.
Australia relies heavily on the US as a strategic partner, and the relationship has been bolstered by the Aukus agreement which will see US nuclear submarines stationed off Rockingham from 2027.
Russia currently invests in the order of 6 per cent of its GDP in defence – a figure which has jumped sharply since the beginning of its conflict with Ukraine.
The comments come on the tail-end of a defence spending debate which has dominated the political cycle over the past 48 hours.
The Labor Party has pledged to lift annual defence spending from its current position around 2 per cent to 2.3 per cent by 2033-34 – a move which would take investment beyond $100 billion per annum from that time.
The Liberal commitment of 3 per cent would lift to somewhere in the order of $130 billion per annum and funded by a wind-back of income tax cuts pledged by Labor.
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles responded by highlighting the investment taken by Labor in defence to date and rubbished Liberal leader Peter Dutton’s position.
“I mean, plucking a number out of thin air, putting it into a press release and calling that a defence policy is a joke,” he said today.
“It is not as though Peter Dutton can waive a press release in the face of our adversaries and they’ll suddenly run from the battlefield.
“You actually need to be thinking about what capabilities you are seeking to build, what you are seeking to acquire, and have deep thought about how you’re going to make that happen.”
