Australia plans big defence and security investments
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Last Updated: May 11, 2021, 03:52 PM IST
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The government plans to spend 270 billion Australian dollars ($212 billion) over the next decade on upgrading defence capabilities to promote an open and peaceful Indo-Pacific, Treasury Department documents say.
AP
Australian Defense Forces personnel parade as they are farewelled at barracks in Brisbane, Australia, before deploying to Afghanistan on June 29, 2015
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The Australian government released a big-spending economic plan for the next fiscal year on Tuesday that includes hefty investments in defence and national security as relations with China worsen.
The government plans to spend 270 billion Australian dollars ($212 billion) over the next decade on upgrading defence capabilities to ``promote an open and peaceful Indo-Pacific, Treasury Department documents say.
Aged care, mental health and family violence spending headlined Tuesday s 2021 federal budget.
But while some portfolios and policy areas dominated discussion and attention, there were plenty of others that fell under the radar.
Here s a look at six of them.
New residents will soon have to wait four years for welfare access
The government has announced it will apply a consistent four-year waiting period across most welfare payments before new Australian residents can access them.
The measure, expected to save the government $671.1 million over five years, is set to apply to those granted residency from 1 January 2022.
The government says it will redirect the savings to other “policy priorities.”
A man wanted for suspected terrorism offences has been arrested in Melbourne upon his return to Australia.
Mohamed Zuhbi arrived at Melbourne airport yesterday about 4pm after being deported by Turkey where he had served an 18-month prison sentence for joining Islamic State and other related crimes.
Authorities allege the 30-year old travelled from Turkey to Syria, where he allegedly facilitated the travel of foreign terrorist fighters to support Islamic State (IS).
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Accused Islamic State facilitator Mohamed Zuhbi arrived in Melbourne and was arrested yesterday.(Supplied/NSW Police)
Mr Zuhbi is facing multiple terrorism charges, including one count of knowingly giving support and resources to a terrorist organisation, and one count of engaging in a hostile activity in a foreign state.
A wanted man has been arrested on his return to Australia from Turkey following a NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team (JCTT) investigation into suspected terrorism offences.
The 30-year-old former Sydney man, who was subject to an outstanding arrest warrant in NSW, was arrested at Melbourne International Airport by members of the AFP International Counter Terrorism Investigations Response Team after arriving on a flight from Turkey about 4pm yesterday (Saturday, 8 May 2021).
The arrest warrant was sought by NSW JCTT – comprising the AFP, NSW Police Force (NSWPF), the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, and the NSW Crime Commission – following an investigation into the man’s alleged travel from Sydney to Turkey in 2013.