Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull said that with AU$200 billion budgeted to increase Australian defense capabilities in the next decade, Australia should rank higher than 20th among arms-exporting countries. The planned Australian military build-up was the largest in its peace-time history, he said. "Apart from North Korea, there is no country in the region that shows any hostile intent toward Australia," Turnbull said. The push to increase Australian defense manufacturing jobs came after General Motors Co. in October became the last automaker to quit building Australian cars. Most of the new Australian defense spending is on submarines and frigates that will be largely built in Australia.

Source: ABC News January 29, 2018 02:34 UTC