Global Courant 2023-05-02 11:15:00
SYDNEY – Australia said on Tuesday it will pay military personnel A$50,000 (S$45,000) to stay beyond an initial period of service, days after an evaluation found its defensive posture was “not fit for purpose” amid growing competition between the United States and China.
Defense Secretary Richard Marles said the number of defense personnel was 3,400 under funded positions and there was a retention problem.
“We have a problem making sure we recruit the number of defense personnel we need,” he told reporters in Canberra.
The retention bonus is paid to personnel who remain after completing a mandatory period of service, which is typically three years.
The government last week supported the recommendations of a Defense Strategic Review, which said Australia should prioritize long-range precision strike capability, domestic production of guided weapons and diplomacy.
Mr Marles said the review had made it clear that Australia’s defensive posture “is no longer fit for purpose, due to the complexity of the strategic circumstances we face”.
“We are now working with a sense of controlled urgency to reshape our defense force,” he added.
The review said that the US was no longer the “unipolar leader of the Indo-Pacific”, that intense competition between the US and China defined the region and that the great power competition had “potential for conflict”.
China is engaged in the largest military build-up of any country since the end of World War II, which took place “without transparency or reassurance to the Indo-Pacific region of China’s strategic intentions,” the review said.
Australia and Singapore held bilateral talks on defence, trade and foreign policy in Canberra on Monday.
Singapore’s Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen told reporters that Australia, as an Asian country, can play a greater role in regional security.
“When your submarines are ready, we welcome them to call at our ports, we will facilitate it,” he said, referring to the nuclear-powered submarine fleet that Australia will acquire over the next decade through the Aukus partnership with the US and Great Britain. -Britain. . REUTERS
