US President Donald Trump’s top military man has just delivered the strongest possible signal to Australia when it comes to our dwindling defence capabilities.

Get tougher. Now. Or fall behind.

Trump is boosting America’s defence commitments, lifting its spending and urging its allies to do the same, in the face of increasing uncertainty in the global theatre. 

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, an America-first Trump loyalist, has been touring the world, telling allied countries to get their act together.

America shouldn’t be world police, it’s time to lift our game. That was the signal he sent to us. 

And guess what?

Britain’s Labour government listened.

They’ve now lifted their defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP and are on their way to 3.5 per cent.

Countries in Europe also listened.

Some of them are supercharging their defence expenditure to a powerful 4.7per cent.

Australia, on the other hand, is falling well behind.

We waft between a pathetic 1.9 per cent to 2 per cent.

Treasury expects we might reach 2.4per cent … by 2028.

That’s just not good enough, it’s nowhere near the 3.5 per cent we need, and it risks leaving Australia open to provocation by an emboldened CCP. 

Even Albo’s own side is urging him to take America’s advice.

From former defence force chief Angus Houston to former defence minister Kim Beazley, people from all sides have come out telling Albo to lift his game on defence. 

And what does Albo say to the United States, the United Kingdom and even his own former defence force chiefs? 

“We’ll decide our own defence budget.”

This is bad leadership and poor diplomacy. 

It’s a fundamental misreading of our allies who for so long have paid our way on defence.

Albo is talking down to the very people we need on our side – it’s not just weak, it’s downright dangerous.

And it’s increasingly clear he’s doing it for ideological reasons.

Following Trump’s advice would not just mean we keep the lights on and our soldiers happy, it means we bring the Australian military into the 21st century.

It means we’re protected with missile defences, drones, counter-drone capabilities, de-mining ships and so much more. 

The war in Ukraine has taught us what drones can do in war, yet the Australian Defence Force under Albo has made no significant investment in drones, nor in counter-drone technology.

Thankfully, we still have at least one man in our parliament willing to speak some sense.

Andrew Hastie, a former SAS himself, put Australia’s defence situation this way.

“Failure would be leaving Australia’s defences so weak that we provoke aggression,” he said.

And by under-funding our armed forces, that is exactly what Albo is risking. 

The CCP dragon is breathing down our neck watching as we get weaker by the day.

Meanwhile Albo is out picking flowers.

Prime Minister, it’s time to get serious.

^{Image source: The Australian, https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/albo-just-might-be-the-labor-pm-for-our-times/news-story/99c4d6a2ca8466bbb6a0b717aa3c6221}