military presence in the Indo-Pacific region. This would include more US ships, bomber planes, satellites and military base personnel in Australia.Mr Kendall acknowledged the military itself should do more to prioritise which new investment should be made.
Defence forces needed to more accurately prioritise on what and where the money was spent, said Stacie Pettyjohn, director of the defence program at the think tank Centre for a New American Security. Bases in northern Australia could be used, but they needed improvement and expansion to handle heavy US aircraft.She said financial and political reasons were the main influence in how fast these expansions could be made.