Publication

This paper analyzes the deep cuts made to Australia's defense budget. It has been argued that the long-term cost of health and aging will place further pressures on government finances and constrain defense spending in the decades ahead. But while social spending will undoubtedly rise, the author argues, so it will Australia's prosperity and capacity to pay. The author considers fiscal and economic arguments and concludes that spurious arguments about the "affordability" of defense spending should not be allowed to skew the long-term plans for Australia's defense.