Illustration by Simon Letch

Don’t be fooled. Ever-higher defence spending means ever-higher taxes

We’re spending about $56 billion a year on defence and that’s going to rise sharply,no matter who’s in power. Does anyone really think this won’t lead to income tax hikes?

  • Ross Gittins

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Gina Rinehart at the Anzac Day ceremony.

Rinehart uses Anzac Day service to push for enormous increase in defence spending

Australia’s richest person has called for a gargantuan rise in defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP at a sunset vigil before Anzac Day.

  • Paul Sakkal andShane Wright
Opposition leader Peter Dutton has vowed to significantly outspend Labor on defence.

Dutton heeds Trump’s call on defence,vows to massively outspend Labor

The Coalition will promise to significantly outspend Labor by increasing defence spending to 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product by 2030.

  • Matthew Knott
Andrew Hastie standing behind Peter Dutton at a press conference in Darwin earlier in the campaign.

Andrew Hastie is a rising Liberal star. Where is he in the election campaign?

Since he entered parliament a decade ago,Andrew Hastie has been spoken about as a potential Liberal leader but has been strangely absent from the campaign.

  • Matthew Knott
Military experts are concerned that Australia’s move to acquire Virginia-class submarines is distorting the defence budget.

The fourth service:How AUKUS is consuming the defence budget

Army. Air force. Navy … AUKUS? The nuclear submarine program could soon cost as much as,or more than,other branches of our military,experts say.

  • Matthew Knott
A generic photo of ADF soldier (main) and Melbourne-based academic Samantha Crompvoets (inset).

Whoever wins the election,stop the rot in Defence. We’re in peril as never before

Australia confronts the greatest ever threats to its security,yet our bloated defence aristocracy is intellectually stunted. We need urgent action – and that includes a debate on the introduction of national service.

  • Mick Ryan
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What we know about the budget so far

Jim Chalmers will present his fourth budget on Tuesday night. Here’s what we already know will be in the pre-election fiscal blueprint.

  • Shane Wright

Trump’s rocked the boat,but now’s not the time to bail on AUKUS

The shared strategic interests between Australia and the US are more aligned now than at any time since World War II. Catastrophising every US move only casts doubt on our own reliability as an ally.

  • Jennifer Parker
The Rheinmetall Boxer tank.

‘Era of rearmament’:German arms maker looks to cash in on Trump turmoil

Europe’s largest producer of munitions says it’s set to profit from the region’s rising military spending as Donald Trump shifts the US away from its support of Europe.

  • Melissa Eddy
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Donald Trump’s pick for under-secretary of defence for policy at the Pentagon Elbridge Colby.

‘For us to determine’:Albanese pushes back on Trump pick’s defence call

Opposition finance spokeswoman Jane Hume said it was important to meet “the expectations of our strategic partners”,flagging a major rise in defence spending if Peter Dutton wins power.

  • Matthew Knott