RSL president warns PM that soldiers are at risk unless defence spending increased

The RSL president has used a speech at the War Memorial on Remembrance Day to call on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to increase defence spending, claiming Australia’s armed forces will not be prepared if they are sent into a major combat.

Major General Greg Melick said in his commemorative address that the Returned & Services League’s warnings on defence spending had long been ignored and Australia had become “complacent” about the threats it faces.

“For many years the RSL’s defence and security committee has been agitating, without apparent success, on the need to ensure we bolster defence spending and significantly increase our reserves, especially in fuel and ammunition, to best equip our dedicated servicemen and women before we send them into harm’s way,” Melick said on Tuesday at the Australian War Memorial, to mark the end of World War I.

“We also must remember the lessons of past conflicts to ensure we are appropriately prepared for what the future may bring.”

US President Donald Trump’s defence secretary Pete Hegseth has called for Australia to raise defence spending to 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product.

Australia currently spends about 2 per cent of GDP on defence, including a $12 billion investment in submarine shipyards in WA, and is on track to raise it to 2.4 per cent by the middle of next decade.

Following its re-election in May the Albanese government committed an extra $5.7 billion to the military over the next four years and an extra $50 billion over the next decade.

The Albanese government also endorsed the AUKUS pact with the United Kingdom and the United States, instigated under the former Morrison government. Australia would acquire up to eight nuclear-powered submarines, at a cost of $368 billion over three decades, which are viewed as a crucial asset for defence in the Pacific.

Melick said China’s threat to Australia demanded that Australia invest more heavily than ever before to defend itself in the modern theatres of war, where troops on the ground will be far less significant than weapons and hardware.

“The Defence Strategic Review has outlined that the strategic situation in the Indo-Pacific region has never been as dire since 1941,” he said.

“We should never forget that servicemen and women of my father’s generation commenced their training with broomsticks and won through sheer courage, initiative and resilience.

“Sadly, these will not be enough in today’s strategic situation, especially with the ever-increasing technological nature of the battlefield and the vast range of modern ordnance and weapons.”

Melick said it was cause for concern that a recent survey had found only 30 per cent of Generation Z were prepared to fight for their country.

Defence Minister Richard Marles was aware of the RSL’s concerns, Melick said, but he must convince the federal cabinet to make changes.

“The challenge before him [Marles] is to convince his colleagues to rebalance our priorities,” Melick said.

“Otherwise, in future Remembrance Day ceremonies we may well regret the conflict we didn’t deter and remember those who we demanded to protect us without the necessary wherewithal.

“Let us appropriately prepare for a conflict we hope never comes.”

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