[ad_1]
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has praised Australia for “stepping up” as he chided other Pacific allies as looking for a “free ride” and relying on the “generosity of the American taxpayer”.
Hegseth made the comments in his keynote address to the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday during which he said the US and its allies were “moving away from a model of dependency and toward one of true partnership”.
“The era of the United States subsidizing the defense of wealthy nations is over,” he said.
The Trump administration has called for Australia to increase its defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP.
And he praised Australia, as well as South Korea, Singapore, the Philippines and Japan, for increasing their defence spending.
“Australia is stepping up,” he said.
“Together we are expanding the rotational presence of US forces and collaborating to ensure our defense industrial base builds and sustains weapons required for a high-end fight.
“We appreciate Australia’s investment in real combat power and the commitment to integrate more deeply with the US Joint Force.”
He also criticised Europe for ignoring “polite pleas” to “spend more on their own defense”.
“For those who believe they can continue to free ride on the generosity of the American taxpayer, hear us now – those days are over,” he said.
“Allies who refuse to step up and carry their own weight for our collective defense will face a clear shift in how we do business.
“President Trump believes in helping countries that help themselves. And the United States Department of War feels the exact same way.”
Meanwhile Australian deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles used his address to the conference to say that the seabed had become a “battlefield” after a series of attacks on subsea infrastructure and cables.
He said that earlier this year a fibre-optic subsea cable connecting Helsinki and Tallinn was cut.
“It is striking that several cables have been severed across the Baltic and the Taiwan Strait since November 2024,” he said.
“Now, maybe these were accidents. But even if they were, it highlights the vulnerability of this crucial part of the globe’s infrastructure.
“If they were intentional, we are left to wonder: are countries testing our response times, testing our attribution thresholds and testing our political will to respond?”
Marles met with Hegseth and his Japanese counterpart Shinjirō Koizumi at the Shangri-La Dialogue.
The government on Saturday announced it signed a contract with Lockheed Martin Australia to manufacture key guided weapons components in Australia.The contract is worth $120m, the government said.
[ad_2]
