Foreigners will be able to join the Australian Defence Force under a fast-track to citizenship.
As part of the national defence strategy unveiled in April, eligibility criteria will be expanded to allow more people to join the defence force.
Who can apply?
From July, eligible New Zealanders will be able to apply to join the Australian military.
Permanent residents from all other nations will be able to do the same from January 2025.
Once they have served for 90 days, they will be expected to become Australian citizens.
Defence Personnel Minister Matt Keogh said the recruitment drive wouldn’t take people out of other countries.
“These are people that have already made Australia home and we are providing them a fast track to citizenship through joining the Australian Defence Force as well,” he told reporters in Canberra.
Keogh clarified in the press briefing that the option was available to all foreign nationals after the initial statement indicated a set group of nations.
What’s behind the rule change?
Australia’s low unemployment rate made it difficult to hire defence staff and this announcement was aimed at increasing potential recruits, Keogh said.
Non-citizens who want to join the military must have lived in Australia for at least one year before applying, must not have served in a foreign military in the previous two years and must be able to attain Australian citizenship.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said this was necessary to “meet the nation’s security challenges through the next decade and beyond”.
The coalition is not against the plan, but opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham said it was only necessary because of the failings of Labor.
“The government’s defence policy has been mired in reviews and delays and things that don’t build the confidence to get people to join in the first place,” he told Sky News.
“We want to see, ideally, Australians wearing the Australian uniform.”
In a speech at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute Defence Conference on Tuesday, Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy will link the government’s actions to those of Labor leader John Curtin, who led Australia through World War II.
“On coming to government, the easy thing for us to do would have been simply to tinker at the edges of Defence,” he will say.
“But it would have been the wrong thing to do.
“Instead, our government identified a need for rational and robust strategy to guide some of the biggest and most consequential investments a nation can make.”
The federal budget in May allocated an extra $5.7 billion for Defence over the next four years, and .
But ASPI’s budget analysis warns the government’s plans won’t improve the nation’s military capabilities for at least a decade as Beijing pledges to “crush” foreign forces.
Conroy is expected to set out the manufacture of guided weapons and explosive ordnance, outlining how the government will work with defence industry and international partners.
It will be backed with a $16 billion to $21 billion commitment in the rebuilt Integrated Investment Program over the next decade.