Australia s conservative opposition leader Dutton pledges defence boost if elected

SYDNEY - Australias conservative opposition party leader Peter Dutton, trailing in polls related to the May 3 election, has pledged to boost defence spending to 3% of gross domestic product within a decade, as the Trump administration pushes allies to spend more on security.

You dont achieve peace through weakness, Dutton said in Western Australia state on Wednesday, outlining his Liberal Partys defence policy, echoing U.S. President Donald Trumps line of peace through strength.

His party would offer the United States military greater access to northern Australia, he added.

Focusing on the conservative partys strength of national security in the final stretch of the campaign, Dutton, a former defence minister, said if he was elected his government would spend A$21 billion ($13.41 billion) more than Labor on defence over five years to reach 2.5% of GDP, and 3% within a decade.

Prime Minister Anthony Albaneses Labor government in 2023 committed to spend A$368 billion over three decades on AUKUS, Australias biggest ever defence project with the United States and Britain to acquire nuclear-powered submarines. Labor has previously said it would lift defence spending by A$50 billion over a decade, but pledged no new money in this years national budget.

The Liberals defence spokesman Andrew Hastie, a former special forces officer in Afghanistan, told reporters the defence force was suffering a recruitment and retention crisis.

We are going backwards on AUKUS, this is a multi-generational nation-building endeavour and they are failing, he said.

Hasties Western Australian electorate is near the HMAS Stirling base where a rotating fleet of four United States Virginia attack submarines and a British Astute submarine will be based from 2027.

Western Australia needs to lift training, and divert mining workers to AUKUS submarine construction, he said.

Australias lesson from Ukraine was that nations need to stand on