Redspice: budget ushers in Australia’s ‘biggest ever’ cybersecurity spend

The federal budget cyber package reflects advice from security agencies about the increasing threats of attacks on critical infrastructure, and fits the Coalition’s political desire to make national security a key issue in the looming election. Photograph: Oscar Wong/Getty Images

Australia’s electronic spy agency will double in size and ramp up its ability to launch its own offensive cyber operations as part of a $10bn national security budget pledge curiously dubbed Redspice.

But the funding is spread over 10 years and only $4.2bn will be spent in the first four-year budget cycle. Given the government is partly offsetting the package with savings from other parts of the defence portfolio, the cyber pledge is worth only $588.7m in new money in the first four years.