By Marcus Hellyer*
The Albanese government just released its first budget, but it’s the second one for 2022–23. In this article I’ll focus on what’s changed between the March budget (B1) and the October one (B2). The key takeaway is that the government is keeping its powder dry on defence spending until it hears back from the strategic review it has commissioned. The review’s independent leads, former Australian Defence Force chief Angus Houston and former defence and foreign minister Steven Smith, have been instructed to work out what the Australian Defence Force should look like as we enter an era of uncertainty and strategic competition — and to tell the government what it will cost.
