$50B MILITARY BOOST; US ENVOY'S BLAST
Marles sets out post-review defence strategy
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles has released the inaugural National Defence Strategy, a new approach in developing an integrated force to meet emerging security challenges. Responding to the 2023 Defence Strategic Review, the strategy spans all domains – maritime, land, air, space, and cyber. Its goals are to defend Australia and immediate regions; deter through denial any potential adversary’s attempt to project power; protect Australia’s economic connection to the region and world; contribute with partners to the collective security of the Indo-Pacific; and, contribute with partners to the maintenance of the global rules-based order. In addition, the Federal Government will develop a comprehensive workforce plan to help meet current and future workforce needs. The next National Defence Strategy would be published in 2026, the Minister said.
$50 billion step-up in integrated military investment program
Complementing the National Defence Strategy will be the Integrated Investment Program (IIP), released concurrently by Deputy PM Richard Marles. The Defence Minister said it was the first substantial upgrade to the IIP since 2020, and involved a complete rebuild of Defence’s capability procurement plan. Mr Marles said the Federal Government was spending an additional $5.7 billion over the next four years and $50.3 billion in Defence funding over the next decade to deliver the IIP, above the previous funding trajectory for that period. The IIP aims to deliver a Navy with an enhanced lethality surface fleet, an Army optimised for littoral manoeuvre, an Air Force with enhanced land and air strike capability, and a strengthened and integrated space and cyber capability.
US Ambassador raises the stakes in critical minerals
US Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy has urged the private sector to escalate its development of critical minerals supply chains, in the face of Chinese expansion in the sector. In a speech to industry in Perth, WA, Ambassador Kennedy warned of unchecked exploitation by state-owned Chinese companies in Indonesia and elsewhere. She said that such Chinese entities could not be allowed to destroy vulnerable communities and the markets for Australian minerals under the guide of economic development. Ambassador Kennedy said the US was mobilising a whole-of-government approach to secure critical minerals supply chains from trusted vendors with high environmental, social and governance standards and worker protections. She said the US Inflation Reduction Act had already stimulated more than $5 billion of US investment into Australia and Australian companies.
PM talks up emerging export potential to Southeast Asia
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has spruiked Australia’s ability to export critical minerals and rare earths into Southeast Asia, a region which he said had the fastest-growing economic growth in human history. Mr Albanese said Australia was the lucky country because it had all the products that would power the 21st century, with massive quantities of copper, vanadium, cobalt and rare earths. He added that fossil fuels had been very important for Australia, and would continue “of course” to play a role. The PM was in Gladstone, Queensland to announce a $400 million loan toward Australia’s first high purity alumina processing plant, financed through the $4 billion Critical Minerals Facility.
Post-school qualification rate edges up
A total 12.7 million people in Australia aged 15 to 74 held one or more non-school qualifications in 2022-23, according to latest official figures. The Australian Bureau of Statistics said that 48 per cent of people had all qualifications below bachelor degree level, while a further 38 per cent had all qualifications at bachelor level or above, such as post-graduate certificate or diploma. One-third of people (6.3 million) had no non-school qualifications, down from 38 per cent in 2018-19. In 2022-23, 78 per cent of people with a non-school qualification were employed, compared with 57 per cent of those without a non-school qualification.
Wheat, canola crops soar in the West
Australia’s wheat and canola crops posted new records in 2021-22, according to latest official figures for farm commodity output. While the wheat crop jumped 14 per cent to 36 million tonnes and canola soared by 43 per cent to seven million tonnes, most of the gains were recorded in Western Australia. La Niña conditions affected crops in the eastern states, especially in New South Wales, but production soared for summer crops such as rice and cotton. The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ survey of national agriculture revealed that beef cattle herds and sheep flocks rose marginally, while the national dairy herd continued its decline. Grape production for wine dropped 27 per cent as rain conditions battered the eastern states.