Katherine Ziesing | Canberra
The headline figures are $34.6 billion in funding this financial year and $150.6 billion across the four-year forward estimates.
The much vaunted figure from the government of a ‘10 year $195 billion investment program’ has crept up to $200 billion, mainly thanks to inflation, according to the Budget papers.
This path still confirms that the current government is on track to reach two per cent of GDP by 2020-2021.
Funding for operations gets a boost as Operation Okra continues in Iraq/Syria in the fight against Daesh, with $903.1 million budgeted for operations this financial year.
This figure does not include any on-going operations of less than $10 million a year as Defence absorbs those costs internally, Defence officials explained to ADM.
Workforce numbers for the APS remain capped at 18,200 across the forward estimates (unofficially capped for a decade ADM understands) but currently stands at 17,500.
This accounts for a restructuring that will see the APS focus on needed job categories such as cyber and maritime roles.
The number of contractors also jumped from 490 last year to 2,087 this year as the definition of what constitutes a contractor/consultant has been changed by the Department of Finance.
Defence is also planning on saving $304.1 million over the next four years by decreasing this number alongside a reduction in business related travel.
For those who follow program numbers, the Budget portfolio statements are an excellent source of data in this regard since the DIIP website is still MIA. These can be found here.
For more on the Budget and what it means for Defence, keep an eye out for Defence Week Premium this week and the July edition of ADM.