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Defence Minister Richard Marles was asked this morning whether he was cautious about sharing information with his US counterpart Pete Hegseth, after it was revealed the Trump administration’s defence secretary shared sensitive military information on a group chat that included members of his family.
Hegseth last month also shared sensitive details about an imminent military operation in Yemen with a group chat on the consumer encrypted messaging app Signal, to which the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic had been accidentally added.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth complained about his treatment in the media after more revelations about his inappropriate use of Signal.Credit: AP
Marles said he remained confident in his engagement with the US on defence and the sharing of classified information.
“We have a very close relationship with the United States when it comes to defence,” Marles said on ABC News. “It is deep, it is organic, and it is trusted. We do share information, and that information is treated in an appropriate way, and I’ve got complete confidence that that will be the case going forward.
“I am absolutely confident about the way in which we engage with the United States and the way in which I’ve been engaging with Secretary Hegseth.”
Asked if there’s a risk the government is underspending on defence after the Coalition vowed to boost spending by $21 billion by 2030, Defence Minister Richard Marles attacked the opposition as untrustworthy.
“There is no explanation of how they’re paying for this, where the money is coming from, nor really is there any explanation of what the money is being spent on,” Marles said on ABC News.
Defence Minister Richard Marles has attacked the opposition of defence spending.Credit: Hamish Hastie
“We’ve engaged in the biggest peacetime increase in defence spending since the Second World War. That’s the fact of the matter, and it’s not some vague commitment, it’s not a target, it’s not an aspiration. It’s in the budget. It is a much bigger increase than anything we saw from the Liberals when they were in government.
“What we have here is not really a defence policy from the Liberals. It is a pathetic whimper.”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton will today commit to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030 and to 3 per cent over the next 10 years.
Under Labor, defence spending is projected to rise from 2.02 per cent of GDP this year to 2.3 per cent by 2034.
The Coalition has moved to outflank Labor on national security by vowing to inject an extra $21 billion into defence by the end of the decade in one of its major election commitments.
The Coalition will promise to significantly outspend Labor by increasing defence spending to 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030 and to 3 per cent over the next 10 years, matching the ambitious target called for by the Trump administration.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has vowed to significantly outspend Labor on defence.Credit: James Brickwood
Peter Dutton and opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie will announce the spending pledge in Perth today as the Coalition seeks to arrest drooping poll numbers and re-energise its election campaign.
Defence spending is projected to rise from 2.02 per cent of GDP this year to 2.3 per cent by 2034 under Labor, making the Coalition’s 3 per cent long-term pledge significantly more ambitious.
Donald Trump’s global tariff war and the uncertainty he has unleashed on the world will cost the Australian economy more than $13 billion this year and put upward pressure on inflation, the International Monetary Fund has warned.
In a wake-up call to Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton about the economic headwinds fanned by Trump’s policy agenda, the IMF said yesterday the global economy had entered a new era, with America and China to bear the brunt of a substantial slowdown in growth over the next 18 months.
Americans will also pay a large price for Donald Trump’s policies.Credit: Bloomberg
The Australian economy, which in January the fund had forecast to expand by 2.1 per cent this year, is now expected to grow by 1.6 per cent. Forecast growth through 2026 has been revised down slightly to 2.1 per cent from January’s forecast of 2.2 per cent.
Inflation has been revised up for this year to 2.5 per cent from 2 per cent, but remains within the Reserve Bank’s target band. Financial markets are expecting the bank to slice the official cash rate by a quarter percentage point to 3.85 per cent at its mid-May meeting.
Almost all the reduced growth, worth $13 billion this year and $16 billion by 2026, is due to Trump’s tariffs and the uncertainty they have created across the global economy.
Who came out best in last night’s leader debate on Channel Nine? Here’s how three of our journalists saw it.
David Crowe (chief political correspondent)
“This was an even match and ended in a draw. There was no stunning Labor victory. At the same time, Dutton needed to take Albanese down and lift the Coalition’s fortunes, but this goal eluded him on the night.”
Jacqueline Maley (senior writer)
“Dutton – he pushed back more and gave articulate answers.”
Matthew Knott (foreign affairs and national security correspondent)
“Dutton put in his best debate performance of the campaign but Albanese came out the winner by a whisker by keeping the campaign frozen in place.”
Peter Dutton branded Anthony Albanese loose with the truth, while the prime minister accused the opposition leader of desperation, as they traded sharp personal barbs last night while sparring over health funding and nuclear energy costs during the third leaders’ debate of the election campaign.
Dutton took the first step to call out what he said were “a lot of lies told by Labor over the course of this campaign”, defending the Coalition as it comes under a sustained political attack in Labor’s paid advertising for plotting mystery cuts to Medicare to pay for his nuclear energy plan.
“That’s not fair dinkum”: Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton accused each other of lying this campaign.Credit: James Brickwood
Dutton disputed Labor’s $600 billion costing on the Coalition’s energy policy as a number whipped up by an interest group, while rejecting the government’s claims that he would cut healthcare.
“Your best description of him [Albanese] could be that he’s loose with the truth and he says it with a straight face, which is the most remarkable thing,” Dutton said.
The prime minister sought to draw focus to Labor’s Medicare plans by saying he would “absolutely” stake his leadership on bulk-billing rates going up, but this only added fuel to a protracted dispute over the Coalition’s record on health spending from Dutton’s tenure as minister in 2014.
Good morning and welcome to today’s live coverage of the election campaign.
Campaign mode is back in earnest after a sombre day yesterday, when Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton cancelled events following Pope Francis’ death.
Things fired up again last night, however, when the leaders went head-to-head in an at-times personal debate on Channel Nine. Stay with us for analysis of the debate and updates from the campaign trail.
