We must prepare for worst-case scenario, warns departing Defence chief

China should be less secretive about its increasingly assertive and at times dangerous military activities, the nation’s outgoing defence chief has urged as he argues the Australian military must spend taxpayer money more wisely to justify extra funding.

The intervention from David Johnston, who ends his decorated military career on Thursday, comes after China test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean with just hours of notice, drawing an angry rebuke from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and other regional leaders.

Albanese said on Wednesday that the Pacific Islands Forum had been drafting a “very strong” joint statement condemning the missile test on behalf of its 18 members.

Beijing has defended the launch as a “routine” test that was not targeted at any other country.

Admiral Johnston said the ADF must “act with a greater degree of urgency to prepare for the worst-case scenario” because it could no longer rely on a decade-long warning time before a major conflict.

He also made a passionate defence of the AUKUS submarine program as “a game-changing capability for Australia”.

In response to questions from this masthead, Johnston said that while Australia and China had a “constructive, diplomatic relationship”, the rapid expansion of China’s People’s Liberation Army raised important questions that Beijing had not answered.

“Why are their military forces appearing further away from their own waters and closer to ours more often, such as when one of their navy task groups circumnavigated Australia in 2025?” he asked.

“Why are we experiencing more unsafe, unprofessional interactions between our two militaries, when historically these have been rare?

“Defence and the ADF are asking these questions because we are seeing these actions and behaviours increasing incrementally.

“This is the basis for our calls for more transparency and reassurance from China on their intentions.”

An Australian naval helicopter was forced to take evasive action after a close encounter with a Chinese military aircraft over the Yellow Sea in March, the latest in a string of dangerous interactions between the two militaries over recent years.

The federal government has repeatedly accused the Chinese military of behaving in an unsafe way, while Beijing has accused the Australian side of distorting facts.

Johnston acknowledged that China’s military activities were not illegal and that the ADF operates far from its own shores in the South China Sea. But he argued there were crucial differences between the way the nation’s two militaries operated.

“Our defence strategy is publicly available and transparent. Our deployments into the region are conducted with significant training and exercises alongside regional nations,” he said.

“And our ships are deploying into seas and waters which are part of our trade routes and are vital to the flow of Australia’s maritime trade.

“We cannot always say the same of the presence of China’s military forces in our region or near Australia.”

Johnston, who became chief of the Defence Force in July 2024, is retiring after a 48-year military career including roles as a frigate commander, head of joint operations, and Defence Force vice chief.

Asked whether the government needed to lift defence spending further, Johnston replied that most Australians would regard the $887 billion earmarked for defence over the next decade as a significant figure.

“We need to work within our budget envelope, and if we believe we do need more money, we need to demonstrate to Australians that we are worth giving more money to,” he said.

“One of the ways we demonstrate that is by showing that we are spending and managing our money wisely.

“You can only spend a dollar once, and we have not always lived up to this philosophy.”

While Defence is responsible for “big, complex, expensive projects”, Johnston said better management was needed to ensure they are not marred by budget blowouts and delays as they have in the past.

Johnston said the ADF was moving away from being a “jack of all trades” military to one squarely focused on the Indo-Pacific following the release of the 2023 Defence strategic review.

He accepted that a project as significant as AUKUS, which is expected to cost up to $368 billion over the next 30 years, deserved significant scrutiny, but said they would deliver “extraordinary benefits” to the navy and “pose enormous challenges to potential adversaries”.

Johnston said he was proud of the ADF’s success at boosting recruitment and the acquisition of new long-range missile systems and general purpose frigates from Japan.

Johnston will be replaced as Defence Force chief by current navy chief and former submariner Mark Hammond.

Defence Minister Richard Marles said Johnston had enjoyed a “remarkable career” and that he had greatly benefited from his counsel when announcing new leadership appointments in April.

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