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A leading security analyst warned Australia’s military bases and critical infrastructure are ‘unprotected’ from foreign aggressors and called for urgent upgrades.
Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, claimed the Albanese Government has overlooked serious gaps in Australia’s defence network.
In an interview with Sky News on Sunday, Mr Davis highlighted the urgency of drastically increasing the Australian Defence Force’s budget in light of instability in the Indo-Pacific region, specifically the ‘very clear threat’ of China invading Taiwan.
‘Right at the moment, all our critical infrastructure in the north of Australia is essentially undefended,’ he said.
‘The government talks about building integrated air and missile defence systems, and they have developed the command and control system for that, but they don’t have any missiles to shoot with.
‘The reality is that all that critical infrastructure of the north or the air bases such as RAAF Tindal, ports and other oil facilities and energy facilities are all undefended.’
China has been ramping up its efforts to grow influence over the Indo-Pacific since the 2010s when it began creating armed artificial islands in the South China Sea.
The Chinese Communist Party’s intent to shift from a diplomatic player to a strategist became clear in 2019 with Kiribati and the Solomon Islands both switching its policies regarding Taiwan to side with China.
Since then the Chinese People’s Liberation Army has extended its presence in international waters, including an excursion down Australia’s east coast by three Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy ships.
Analysts now believe China will start an invasion of Taiwan within the next decade.
Australia’s military budget was questioned by US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth last month with the American calling for it to be increased to three per cent of GDP.
Labor’s existing policies promise just 2.33 per cent of GDP by 2033.
During a meeting with Defence Minister Richard Marles in Singapore, Hegseth said Australia’s military spending should be at least 2.5 per cent of GDP as the risk of a conflict on its north border was increasingly likely.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese dismissed the US’ concerns and said Australia would ‘determine our defence policy’.
‘We’ve invested an additional $10 billion in defence,’ he told a press conference at the time.
‘What we’ll do is continue to provide for investing in our capability but also investing in our relationships in the region.
‘Our position with regard to Taiwan is very clear, has been for a long period of time, which is a bipartisan position to support the status quo.’
Mr Davis urged the Albanese Government to reconsider its defence spending and invest in ‘resilience against attack’.
‘It needs to include sustainability and building sustainability for protracted war that could last months or years in our region and ensure that we can stay in the fight, a high intensity fight, for that period of time,’ he said.
