Plans for new fighter jets on back burner despite Labor’s $50bn boost to defence spending

ADF personnel prepare an F-35A Lightning II for a training exercise in the Northern Territory in May 2021. Plans to expand the RAAF’s fleet of the fighter jet have been shelved. Photograph: Aaron Bunch/AAP

Plans for Australia to acquire new F-35 fighter jets have been put on the back burner as part of a major funding overhaul that the government says will deliver an overall increase in defence spending.

The Albanese government is pouring an extra $50bn into defence spending over the next 10 years and pledging to ensure the military can project power further from Australia’s shores.