Defending Australia and its interests

Recruitment and retention

Continuing to attract and retain high-quality military personnel is critical to the defence of Australia and its interests.

In December 2006 the Government committed $1 billion over 11 years to improve the recruitment and retention of Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel. This budget provides an additional $2.1 billion over 10 years to enhance this process. Measures include:

• $864 million for an enhanced Defence home ownership scheme

• $585 million to reform pay scales
• $228 million for marketing and service branding.

Air combat capability

The Government will spend $6.6 billion over 13 years to purchase and operate 24 F/A‑18F Super Hornets to secure air combat capability for both air‑to‑air and air‑to‑ground missions. The acquisition will allow Australia to maintain air superiority in our region and ensure that there is no capability gap during the transition into service of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Equipment support

The budget includes $4 billion over 10 years to operate and maintain 18 existing equipment platforms, including the Collins class submarines, Black Hawk helicopters and Hercules transport aircraft. The Government will also provide $1.4 billion over 10 years to operate and maintain four new C‑17 heavy airlift aircraft.

Military operations

This budget continues support for ADF operations, including $1.1 billion over four years from 2006-07 to bring security and stability to Iraq and Afghanistan.