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Defence spending: Half back a bigger defence budget Defence spending: Half back a bigger defence budget
According to the Department of Defence’s Portfolio Budget Statements for 2026–27, Australia’s planned expenditure in the Defence portfolio will exceed $60 billion, or around 2% of Australia’s GDP based on the conventional method for calculating defence expenditure. Using the method in the 2026 National Defence Strategy, which is also used by members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), defence expenditure sits closer to 2.8% of GDP.
When asked about Australia’s defence spending, one in two Australians (50%) say they would support an ‘increase’ in spending, while a significant minority (42%) say they would support defence spending remaining ‘about the same’ as it is today. Only 6% of Australians say defence spending should ‘decrease’. These results broadly align with last year’s Poll, where 51% of Australians said they would support an ‘increase’ in defence spending, and 37% said it should remain ‘about the same’.
About the author
Charles Lyons-Jones
Charles Lyons-Jones is a Research Fellow in the Lowy Institute’s Foreign Policy and Public Opinion Program. He oversees the annual Lowy Institute Poll and the Global Diplomacy Index.
