Print PageThe federal opposition warns cuts to the defence budget are creating a dangerous situation.
Spending on defence will fall to 1.49 per cent of GDP this year, the lowest level since 1937, it says.
No other federal department had to endure this level of financial stringency, opposition defence spokesman David Johnston said.
"I think the situation is dangerous," he told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.
"The prime minister has indicated that we are moving to a state-on-state focus, not a non-state actor terrorist focus."
The "ultimate deterrent" in state-on-state situations was the Australian Defence Force.
Senator Johnston said the US devoted 4.7 per cent of GDP to defence while the UK spent 2.6 per cent. Australia ranked 65th in the world.
Australian defence spending as a percentage of GDP was lower than most regional nations, as well as the 2.2 per cent global average.
Senator Johnston said Defence Minister Stephen Smith had refused to rule out further cuts in the upcoming May budget.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has promised there will be no further cuts to the defence budget under a coalition government.
The coalition also had a goal to return to funding levels achieved under the Howard government, Senator Johnston said.
"The next step for us is to analyse how bad the situation really is," he said.
After that the coalition would release a plan to return to real growth of 3 per cent, indexed at about 2.5 annually, as recommended in the 2009 white paper, moving towards 2 per cent of GDP.
That was the right level for Australia, Senator Johnston said.
Mr Smith said the opposition had only promised not to further cut defence spending.
Defence spending as a percentage of GDP was not the only measure and in real dollar terms, Australia spent far more than any nations in the immediate region, he said.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute puts Australia at number 13 of the top 15 countries with the highest military expenditure in 2011.
"In 2012-13, Australia will remain in this relative position," Mr Smith said.
