Australia unveils new defence strategy, with eye on China

Australia unveiled its first National Defence Strategy yesterday, signalling a new focus on deterring China's "coercive tactics" in a region seen as lurching towards conflict.

The 80-page document offers a gloomy assessment of Pacific security and sets out a massive increase in defence spending to retool Australia's military to cope.

"The optimistic assumptions that guided defence planning after the end of the Cold War are long gone," said Defence Minister Richard Marles, presenting the new strategy.

Warning that "China has employed coercive tactics in pursuit of its strategic objectives," the text describes an Australia vulnerable to foes strangling trade or preventing access to vital air and sea routes.

"We are a maritime trading island nation," Marles said.

"The invasion of Australia is an unlikely prospect in any scenario, precisely because so much damage can be done to our country by an adversary without ever having to step foot on Australian soil," he said.

So instead of focusing on maintaining a military that can do a range of tasks almost anywhere in the world, Marles said there would be a laser focus on building a deterrent force that can protect Australia's interests in its immediate region.

At the centre of the strategy are plans to develop a fleet of stealthy nuclear-powered submarines, to triple key missile capabilities and develop a large surface combatant fleet.