While Marles, who is also Australia’s deputy prime minister, wouldn’t say how much Hegseth had sought, a US government readout on Sunday clarified the issue.
“On defence spending, Secretary Hegseth conveyed that Australia should increase its defence spending to 3.5% of its GDP as soon as possible,” according to the statement.
Australia is on track to increase its military spending to 2.4% of GDP by mid-2034, from a touch over 2% now, a sizeable boost but below the levels President Donald Trump has requested from America’s allies. Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Hegseth floated the possibility of even higher spending requests, up to 5% of GDP.
Any additional increases in defence spending by Australia would require the government to find new sources of revenue to finance such an expansion.
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Sunday that Australia would determine its own levels of military expenditure, pointing out the government had invested “an additional A$10 billion ($8.32 billion) in defence.”
Albanese told reporters that his government will “continue to provide for investing in our capability but also investing in our relationships in the region.
