China’s military buildup “is now the largest and most ambitious of any country” since the end of World War II, the review said. And it “is occurring without transparency or reassurance to the Indo-Pacific region of China’s strategic intent”, the review added.
The strategic circumstances during the current review were “radically different” than those in the past, said the review authored by former Australian Defense Force Chief Angus Houston and former Defense Minister Stephen Smith.
The United States, Australia’s most important defence treaty partner, was “no longer the unipolar leader of the Indo-Pacific”, a region that had seen the return of major power strategic competition, it said.
“As a consequence, for the first time in 80 years, we must go back to fundamentals, to take a first-principles approach as to how we manage and seek to avoid the highest level of strategic risk we now face as a nation: the prospect of major conflict in the region that directly threatens our national interest,” the review said.
For the past five decades, Australia’s defence policy had been aimed at deterring and responding to potential low-level threats from small or middle-power neighbours.
“This approach is no longer fit for purpose,” the review said.
Australia’s army, air force and navy needed to focus on “delivering timely and relevant capability” and abandon its “pursuit of the perfect solution or process” in its procurements, it said.
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