Defence Minister Richard Marles has refused to say what percentage of GDP the Albanese government will spend on defence ahead of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's trip to the US.

Defence Minister Richard Marles has refused to say what percentage of GDP the Albanese government will spend on defence.

He has announced $12 billion in additional funding for the Henderson submarine base, but Mr Marles will not say how this impacts defence spending percentages.

The Albanese government itself reintroduced the GDP measure in the 2024 National Defence Strategy, promising to lift investment to 2.4 per cent by 2033–34.

The announcement comes under the shadow of US demands that Australia lift its military investments to 3.5 per cent of GDP.

President Donald Trump and his Secretary of War Pete Hegseth have both pressed Canberra to go beyond the 2.33 per cent projected by 2033.

Defence Minister Richard Marles has refused to say what percentage of GDP the Albanese government will spend on defence.

“We're not focused on that number. We are focused on what money we are spending for the defence capabilities that we need,” Mr Marles told Sky News on Monday.

Pressed again on whether the $12 billion commitment to build new facilities at Henderson in Western Australia would shift the GDP percentage, Mr Marles did not say. 

“It depends on how you calculate that, which is why we're not focused on the proportion of GDP,” Mr Marles said.

“What it does is ... increase in the amount that we've spent on defence. You can do all the sums. Twelve billion is a significant amount of money.”

This comes despite Mr Marles previously telling the National Press Club in 2024 that the opposition should commit to increasing defence spending as a portion of GDP.

“As it stands this level of defence spending is not bipartisan. The Liberals remain stuck in 2022 and a policy of spending 2.1 per cent of GDP on defence,” he said in April, 2024.

The Albanese government announced that it would invest $12 billion on WA’s new shipbuilding precinct, but the money will be invested over a decade.

“Ultimately, any country, when it goes about thinking how it's going to resource its defence force, does so on the basis of what is the strategic need,” Mr Marles said.

The US has demanded its allies increase defence spending in order to more equally share the burden of global security, amid the rise of Chinese and Russian intimidation.

“There are various different measures around the world. It obviously depends on the size of your own GDP,” Mr Marles said.

“What we say is the relevant way to think about defence spending is the actual dollars that you spend on defence.”

Mr Marles has previously claimed that under NATO standards Australia invests 2.8 per cent of GDP in defence.

However, NATO allies have committed to raising military spending to five per cent of economic outputs by 2035, compared to Australia’s commitment of 2.33 per cent.

The additional $12 billion announcement came just days ahead of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s trip to the US, where he hopes to meet President Trump.

The opposition has questioned whether the $12 billion was intended to send a message to President Trump, and help Mr Albanese to secure his first meeting with the US leader.

Meanwhile, there have also been calls for higher defence spending within the Australian defence community.  

Former defence chief Angus Houston, who co-authored the Albanese government’s Defence Strategic Review, has also called to raise spending to 3 per cent of GDP.

Defence Chief Admiral David Johnston also recently told a defence summit that his department would likely ask for a funding boost in the next biennial review.