Australia boosts defence spending to woo recruits

Canberra - Australia on Tuesday sharply increased defence spending for the next financial year as it scrambles to recruit fresh troops and maintain its forces fighting protracted wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

A key ally in the US-led war in Iraq, Canberra will hike military spending by 10.6 per cent to 22 billion Australian dollars (18.25 billion US), equal to two per cent of gross domestic product and 9.3 per cent of government spending.

Treasurer Peter Costello, a senior member of Prime Minister John Howard's administration that has vowed to stay the course in the domestically-unpopular Iraq conflict, revealed the spending boost in his national budget.

"The government has no higher responsibility than the defence of Australia and its interests," Costello told parliament as he delivered his spending plan for the financial year starting in July.

Costello unveiled 2.1 billion dollars in spending over the next 10 years aimed at recruiting and retaining troops with a range of human resource initiatives including pay rises and housing incentives.

Nearly 18,000 military employees will receive pay rises of up to 5,000 dollars a year in a bid to woo fresh recruits and encourage soldiers tempted by high private sector salaries to stay in the military.

Australia's military is aiming to grow from 51,000 to about 57,000 by 2016 even as the economy booms, creating lucrative private sector jobs.

"The government recognises that improved recruitment and retention is necessary in order to ensure that we maintain the current high standards of our defence force and enable the ADF to grow to its intended strength of 57,000," Costello said.

The budget also allocated more than one billion dollars to fighting alongside US troops in Iraq and to maintaining Australian forces in strife-torn Afghanistan for the next few years.

The government set aside 703 million dollars over the next four years for operations in Afghanistan, where a special forces task group is set to deploy, and another 389 million dollars over three financial years to maintain the deployment of around 1,500 troops in and around Iraq.

Some 900 Australian troops are currently engaged inside Iraq, with others based around the region.

The government allocated four billion dollars in additional funding over 10 years for defence logistics, which are hard-pressed by Australian operations in the Middle East, Afghanistan, East Timor and the Solomon Islands.

The 2007-08 budget also includes substantial extra funding to meet the costs of already announced new equipment, including 24 US-made Super Hornet fighter-jets.

The new planes will cost a total of 6.6 billion dollars over 13 years, of which the actual aircraft and weapons cost 3.9 billion.

Costello, a member of a government that prides itself on taking a tough stance on defence and security, also put an extra 307 million dollars aside over 10 years to improve defence intelligence capabilities.

An additional 135.4 million dollars was allocated over four years to increase security of defence bases and personnel.

Agence France Presse