The government said on Tuesday that the Australian military will begin to recruit some non-citizens in a bid to boost troop numbers. Only people from other Five Eyes intelligence-sharing partnership members who are Australian permanent residents will be eligible.
This is happening because the government wants to develop a military that can withstand external pressures like blocked trade routes in case of conflict over them in the future, Marles said. Marles, who also doubles as deputy PM of Australia, said this was a major step towards addressing a 4,400-person shortage for the Australian Defence Force which has an establishment size of 63,600 full time personnel.
The govt intends to increase that number to 80,000 by 2040. The Australian military’s low unemployment rate is one of the deterrent factors.
According to Marles as cited earlier “Australia is particularly dependent on open sea and air routes as it trades with the world as an island nation; therefore it faces potential threats from foreign armies.” At security conference delegates at Sydney Marles said: “We don’t want to become China or America,” adding it would be absurdly suggesting such a thing. He continued saying: “Do we have any ability left whatsoever in a far less certain world to resist any coercion by any potential adversary and make our way?”
From July New Zealanders resident in Australia for minimum one year will qualify militarily while permanent residents from Canada, US and Britain will be eligible from January 2025.
