{"id":944292,"date":"2026-10-28T19:34:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T19:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/944292\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T19:34:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T19:34:12","slug":"defence-budget-cuts-loom-as-aukus-funding-pressure-drives-review-of-military-spending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/944292\/","title":{"rendered":"Defence budget cuts loom as AUKUS funding pressure drives review of military spending"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anticipation is growing of further cuts to expensive defence projects as the Albanese government confirms a senior mining figure will soon oversee Australia\u2019s military acquisitions and overhaul troubled procurement processes.<\/p>\n

Defence officials and industry representatives have told The Nightly that a new \u201cbudget review\u201d has recently begun inside the department with Secretary Meghan Quinn continuing to examine options to reduce spending on \u201cover-programming\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything appears to be on the table \u2014 Hunter-class frigates, infantry fighting vehicles, or even the early retirement of Navy\u2019s Landing Helicopter Docks,\u201d one Defence insider claims.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere is a real funding crunch inside Defence as AUKUS consumes much of the spending, so urgent efforts are being made to find savings elsewhere \u2013 all while the government pushes to land a budget surplus in 2027,\u201d the figure adds.<\/p>\n

One Defence official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, claims there are now regular \u201crobust conversations\u201d between the department secretary and Chief of Defence Admiral Mark Hammond about project budgets.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Defence Minister Richard Marles declined to say which projects were being examined, but said the government would \u201ccontinue to make budget decisions in a prudent and methodical way that supports our Defence Force and supports delivery.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe inherited a Defence budget that was at historically high levels of over-programming, including $42 billion in additional Defence spending without any additional allocation in the budget,\u201d the spokesperson told The Nightly.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince coming to government we have successfully reduced over-programming to more sustainable levels so Defence has a real plan for the capabilities it needs, and the money to deliver it.\u201d<\/p>\n

This week defence also quietly confirmed that the annual cost of salaries for star-ranked officers in the ADF had reached $140 million but insists the number of top brass is now \u201con a downward trajectory\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ADF is rebalancing senior officer numbers through the implementation of the Biennial Review of Star Ranks, stabilising headcount and enhancing workforce sustainability,\u201d the department said in a statement submitted to Parliament.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Biennial Review of Star Ranks has reversed growth in star rank numbers and placed them on a downward trajectory. As at June 2026, the number of star rank positions reduced from a peak of 242 in March 2025 at the review\u2019s commencement, to 226 positions (a reduction of 16 positions).\u201d<\/p>\n

\"KellieKellie Parker has been appointed National Armaments Director. Credit: Matt Jelonek\/Getty<\/p>\n

Speculation about impending cuts to large military programs has emerged as Rio Tinto executive Kellie Parker has been unveiled as Australia\u2019s inaugural National Armaments Director to head up the new Defence Delivery Agency.<\/p>\n

Confirming her appointment, Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy compared Ms Parker to former BHP leader Essington Lewis. who served as Director-General of Australia\u2019s Departments of Munitions and Aircraft Production during World War II.<\/p>\n

Minister Conroy says Ms Parker, who was appointed Rio Tinto\u2019s Australian Chief Executive in 2021 after 20 years at the company, was the obvious choice for the new role overseeing hundreds of billions of dollars\u2019 worth of defence projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe chose someone with deep commercial expertise, strong project management background, but also equally importantly, the first and that has to build the culture of a new organisation, so she\u2019s done that twice within Rio Tinto,\u201d Mr Conroy told The Nightly.<\/p>\n

\"PatPat Conroy. Credit: Gaye Gerard\/NewsWire<\/p>\n

Mr Conroy also rejected suggestions that the confirmation of Ms Parker\u2019s appointment had been delayed given her name was being spoken about inside his department for months.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it took that long,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to find the best person and go through a really exhaustive process, and then obviously people have to go through hurdles within government to be selected.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we had to get the right person. We wanted them on board before the DDA started.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve done that, and in fact, they\u2019re on board before critical decisions are being made.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Parker will begin her appointment as National Armaments Director Designate at the Defence Delivery Group from 9 November this year, until the new Defence Delivery Agency begins operations from 1 July 2027.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, the Defence Department\u2019s Capability and Sustainment Group (CASG), Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Group (GWEO) and Naval Shipbuilding and Sustainment Group (NSSG) were integrated into a new independent Defence Delivery Group.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anticipation is growing of further cuts to expensive defence projects as the Albanese government confirms a senior mining…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":944293,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44,84],"class_list":["post-944292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news","tag-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=944292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944292\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/944293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=944292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=944292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=944292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}