Australia's strategic outlook: a paradigm shift: Balaji Chandramohan reviews the recently issued Australian defence white paper.

• Author: Chandramohan, Balaji
• Position: Essay

The 2016 Australian defence white paper is a curtain-raiser for the strategic path that Canberra is set to undertake in the next two decades. That path will include enhancing the alliance with the United States, including facilitating a greater US military presence in the South-west Pacific and increasing maritime strategic co-operation with Japan, France, India, Indonesia and New Zealand. This posture is a marked departure from the earlier defence white papers released in 2009, 2012 and 2013, which were reticent about greater strategic manoeuvring against Beijing's maritime expansion. The geo-strategic Indo-Pacific orientation has helped in bringing about the grand strategic alliance.

**********

In February Australia released its much awaited 2016 Defence White Paper setting out its geo-political perspective and geo-orientation as well as outlining its priorities in dealing with the growing strategic uncertainty and complex situation facing Australia. Policy-makers and the defence strategic community in countries throughout the Asia-Pacific region will view the document with great interest. This will be especially so in India and New Zealand because they share a strategic convergence. The white paper comes at a time when the geo-strategic term 'Indo-Pacific' has gained attention as a strategic zone of competition between China and the United States.

Much work has gone into producing the Australian white paper. Politically, most of its substance was prepared by the Tony Abbott government. The change of premiership in Australia last September caused some delays, but Abbott's successor as prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, made sure that the review was brought to completion relatively quickly, though not before the new Australian minister of defence, Marise Payne, apparently changed some of the important formulations around, especially, Australia's relationship with China. She has received much praise from both her Liberal Party colleagues and the Australian media for her presentation of the paper.

Increased funding

As envisaged in the white paper, the Australian government's defence strategy is supported by increased defence funding, which will grow to 2 per cent of Australia's gross domestic product by 2020-21, three years ahead of the Liberal Party's 2013 election commitment. The government's funding plan provides A$29.9 billion more to Defence over the period to 2025-26 than previously planned, enabling approximately $195 billion to be invested in Defence capabilities in the next ten years. (1)

Furthermore, with this white paper the government has released for the first time a ten-year integrated investment programme, a detailed capability investment plan for the future force covering all of its major elements. It includes major acquisitions of new weapons, platforms and systems and investment in information and communications technology, infrastructure and the enabling workforce.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

In terms of strategic purpose, the white paper provides an analysis of Australia's geo-political and security environment. It identifies the main drivers that will shape the country's security requirements until 2035. These were all fairly predictable: the US-China relationship, the on-going military modernisation and state rivalry in the Indo-Pacific region, the threat of terror attacks...