![]() But we want peace and security in the region. I think what's constructive is to make sure that we have the best defence capacity possible to make sure that we put in place an optimum pathway for that defence strategy. PRIME MINISTER: I don't think it is constructive to talk about war. Is this nuclear subs deal a sign that the threat is real? We had Malcolm Turnbull on the show last week and he was saying it could be less than three years. ![]() JESSIE STEPHENS, HOST: There's been a lot of discussion over the past few weeks about a possible war with China within three years. But maybe I will take that to Katy Gallagher as the Finance Minister and see what she thinks about the GoFundMe strategy. PRIME MINISTER: We didn't think that through. I've just got it here if you want to have a look. I wanted to come to your aid, I wanted to help you out, so this morning I jumped on GoFundMe and have made a little GoFundMe for you. SAM TAUNTON, HOST: Albo, a lot of people are wondering how we are going to pay for it, right? There's a lot of chat in the media. We want stability and security in the region. We understand that it's a matter of diplomacy. That's why in January I was in Papua New Guinea, the first person to speak to the PNG parliament. That's why I've spent time in India with Prime Minister Modi. That's why on the way back I called into Fiji to see Prime Minister Rabuka who was very supportive of what we're doing. It's about having good diplomatic relations with our neighbours. We understand that national security isn't just about your assets. And at the same time we're investing in those relationships. ![]() PRIME MINISTER: What we'll do is find the right priorities going forward to make sure that Australia has the capabilities that we need. And what that does is look at, okay, what are the assets that we need? What are the capabilities to defend this country? And that will mean some re-prioritisation of defence as well.ĪLY: So you’re going to find other cuts within defence then? We've also done a Defence Strategic Review that we haven't released yet. You'll see in the Budget in May that we've made space for it. But we think this is a responsible commitment that we’ve made. PRIME MINISTER: We will look at, over a period of time, governments are going to have to look at the Budget, that’s the truth, but all governments have to do that. Stage three tax cuts that you have pledged to support and legislated in Opposition, that always comes up. It’s an expensive program that will only get more expensive. WALEED ALY, HOST: What about the stuff you're already doing? So NDIS has come up in discussions. But the defence of the country is a solemn responsibility that the Government holds very dear. And in terms of spending as well, you know, we can't do everything that we would want to do because we do have to prioritise. We've been up front about that, we made a difficult decision about superannuation, but it was targeted and just affects only one half of one per cent of the population. PRIME MINISTER: Well, we don't have hypothecated taxes in this country, but we know there are budget pressures. HARRIS: So can you rule out spending cuts and new taxes to pay for these fancy new subs? So from my mind, when you think about it, does having nuclear submarines increase our capability, increase our defence by 10 per cent or more? You bet it does. And if you think of it as this, it's basically 0.15 per cent of GDP or less than 10 per cent of our defence budget. But we've been pretty transparent about it, that's over many decades. But I’ll tell you what, $368 billion is a huge amount of money. PRIME MINISTER, ANTHONY ALBANESE: Good to be with you.
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