Fed: Defence to be priority in next Budget - Costello
Treasurer PETER COSTELLO says defence will be the top priority in next month's Budget.
Mr COSTELLO says Australia's commitment to the war against terror, East Timor and continuinginvestment under the White Paper means defence spending is at one of its highest levelsever.
He told reporters in Melbourne it means the budget will have to be very tight in other areas.
The government is believed to have spent $320 million this year on the deployment oftroops in Afghanistan, with an extra $19 million covering the cost of intercepting asylumseekers.
This year's surplus had already been scaled back to just $500 million.
Labor says defence resources are so grossly overstretched Australia could not affordto join the United States and Britain in any military action against Iraq.
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman KEVIN RUDD says the defence budget is in extreme crisis.
The government says US military intervention is a possibility if Iraq continues todefy the United Nations, but Australia will consider its position if that occurred.
AAP RTV kmh/pc
KEYWORD: TERROR (CANBERRA)
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