According to the comprehensive report of Global Times , Australian Defense Minister Malles recently said that 18 defense projects promoted by the Australian government faced a budget of 6.5 billion Australian dollars; at the same time, the progress of 28 defense projects has been delayed for a total of 97 years. Malles blamed the chaos of the former Australian government for making his work "a mess" and "all of this happened when the strategic environment is extremely complex and extremely challenging". For some time, Australia has used the excuse of "the threat of a big power" to upgrade its arms many times and expand its defense spending. Australia's military expenditure increased by as much as 4% in 2021, reaching US$31.8 billion. The number of Australian troops is only 60,000, which is an obvious excessive military expansion.
Australia is so eager to expand military expenditures, and its fundamental purpose is to strengthen Australia's international influence. Australia is recognized as the world's developed capitalist country, with a sixth land area in the world, and has a very good geostrategic position. However, Australia's international status is actually not high. Although it is the first in the South Pacific region, it has limited influence in the international community.
Australia has always had its own dream of a great power, hoping to continuously enhance its international influence. Especially in recent years, with the continuous strengthening of Australia's economic strength, it can be said that Australia is no longer willing to act as a major country in the southern hemisphere, , Oceania, , and it will also become a world-wide power. Australia is now significantly expanding its military expenditures, just to realize its dream of becoming a great power through military expansion.
First of all, by expanding arms, we will enhance the modernization level of the Australian military, thereby strengthening Australia's military influence in the international community. Australia has increased its military expenditure so much, but a lot of money is actually spent on the modernization of Australian military equipment. Australia should not only strive to expand the scale of its military force, expanding the Australian Defense Forces from the current 60,000 to 100,000, but also purchasing advanced weapons and equipment such as F35 fighter and attack nuclear submarine . In addition, the Australian military will also build more modern military port and military base to increase the development and application of military artificial intelligence technology.
Australia also wants to realize its dream of not only dominating the South Pacific but also dominating the Indo-Pacific by building a modern military force.
The second is to improve the ability to follow the US military to please the United States and enhance its international influence by exerting its ally with the United States. Since the United States implemented the Indo-Pacific strategy with the competition of big powers as the core, Australia has been following the United States and is willing to be the pawn of the United States dominating the Indo-Pacific. In order to better serve as a good thug for the United States' world hegemony, Australia needs to further enhance its military strength. This is also approved and supported by the United States. The United States not only made a fortune from supporting Australia's arms expansion, but also made good use of Australia's ambitions to drive Australia to serve its hegemony strategy. The benefit Australia has gained from this is that it has gained the praise and support of the United States and promoted its position in the United States alliance.
Third, it is to enhance Australia's ability to intervene in Indo-Pacific affairs. With the continuous increase in comprehensive strength, Australia has continued to increase its investment in the Indo-Pacific region and its intervention in regional affairs, and actively develops military diplomatic relations with countries in surrounding areas. Australia's increase in military expenditure is to better play the influence of its so-called "regional middle power" and achieve a transformation from regional to global scale.
Whether Australia's idea of expanding its military power to promote the dream of a great power and enhancing its international influence is actually a big question mark. After all, in history, countries with military and military strength have not ended well. Australia is taking the path of expanding its military force. If this continues, not only will Australia not be able to become a truly influential political power, but even the growth of Australia's military power is actually very limited and will definitely be unsustainable in the end.
First of all, Australia's insistence on expanding its military will inevitably cause tension in the regional situation, threaten the security of other countries in the region, and thus deteriorate Australia's economic operating environment. As a resource exporter, Australia has a high economic dependence on foreign countries. If the economic operating environment is damaged, Australia's economic development will inevitably be seriously affected. Once mineral resources and agricultural and animal husbandry products cannot be sold, and the tourism and education services industry will be hit hard again, Australia will inevitably face a serious economic crisis. There will be serious problems with the government's finances. Where can there be money to maintain a significant increase in military spending?
Secondly, Australia's practice of expanding military expenditures is a bottomless pit, which will cause a vicious cycle of budget overspending caused by Australia in military expenditures. At present, Australia has experienced significant overspending of the defense budget and serious delays in project progress. As Australia's military expenditure continues to grow and military projects continue to increase, this situation will only become more serious.
In addition, Australia has over-expanded its military power and significantly increased its military expenditures to actually make wedding clothes for others, and it will also be opposed at home over time. Due to its special geographical location, Australia does not require too strong military strength. At present, Australia's military expansion and preparations are largely intended to cooperate with the United States' Indo-Pacific strategy, and fundamentally serve the interests of the United States.
Some people in Australia have now opposed the government's behavior of serving the United States out of their own pocket, believing that this is an irrational behavior and is not in Australia's long-term interests. As the drawbacks of the Australian government's military adventurous line continue to emerge, more people will definitely come out to oppose such military expansion policies. Especially for Australians who have always been accustomed to high welfare policies, if social welfare declines due to excessive military expansion, the opposition will become louder and louder, and the Australian government is likely to change its policies under pressure.
