US demands Australia nearly double military spending

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Pete Hegseth told Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles that Australia needs to lift its defence spending from $59 billion to $100 million as soon as possible to satisfy US demands. He conveyed that Australia must do more to support the US in the Indo‑Pacific on the sidelines of the Shangri‑la Dialogue in Singapore amid growing tensions with China. This comes as President Donald Trump threatens to increase economic punishments on Australia by doubling steel and aluminium tariffs. Australia’s defence spending currently sits at about 2 percent of GDP, and an immediate lift of over $40 billion extra a year would raise that to 3.5 percent.