CANBERRA - Australia will buy £100 billion worth of equipment over the next decade – a budget increase of £13 billion – to address China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea.
The country plans to spend £26 billion [$AUD50 billion] on a fleet of 12 new submarines in what will be one of the world’s biggest defence contracts.
Unveiling a 20-year defence blueprint, Malcolm Turnbull, the prime minister, said the government was increasing defence spending to strengthen the nation amid rising tensions in the region, including China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea.
The defence white paper laid out plans to spend £100 billion [$AUS195 billion] over the next decade – a budget increase of £13 billion [$AUS26 billion].
It labelled the ties between the United States and China as one of the main factors determining Australia’s security outlook, saying the relationship “is likely to be characterised by a mix of cooperation and competition”.
Mr Turnbull said Australia needed to be prepared in case rivalries and growing military capabilities in the region were to "lead to instability and threaten Australia's interests, whether in the South China Sea, the Korean peninsula or further afield".
