Budget 2022 Australia

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the government's investments in Australia's national security spanned air, land, sea, space and cyber capabilities. “In these ...

“Project REDSPICE is a critical investment in our digital sovereignty. “REDSPICE ensures Australia keeps pace with the rapid growth of cyber capabilities of potential adversaries. Through this record investment in national security and our veterans, the Morrison Government is committed to building a more secure Australia and protecting our way of life for future generations. “The women and men who serve this nation in uniform make incredible sacrifices for our country and we are ensuring that we repay our debt to them by providing the support they, and their families, need.” “Our record investment in developing and building the equipment we need to defend our nation is creating more than 100,000 jobs across the country. It will also create over 1,900 new jobs, almost doubling the ASD’s size. It acknowledges the nature of conflict has changed, with cyber-attacks now commonly preceding other forms of military intervention – most recently demonstrated by offensive cyber activity against Ukraine. “The Government will also upgrade and extend in-service support for the Hawk 127 Lead-In Fighter Training System that will result in a $1.5 billion investment in the Air Force’s future aviation capability.” “The Morrison Government’s investment in the ASD will allow our cyber operators to punch back at our adversaries and protect Australia and our interests online.” “The Government will invest $126.4 million for Operation FLOOD ASSIST in 2021-22. Assistant Minister for Defence the Hon Andrew Hastie MP said through the $270 billion investment into the capability and potency of our Defence force, we continue to ensure Australia remains ready and adaptable to the changing nature of warfare. “This Budget also continues to build on support for our veterans and their families, in recognition of the service and sacrifice they’ve made to keep our nation safe and secure.”

On the climate crisis and the natural environment, the story of the 2022-23 budget is one of what isn't there as much as what is.

It is possible it could help address a major flaw with the current system – its failure to factor in the cumulative impact of different projects that destroy habitat and affect threatened species and ecosystems. It focuses on hydrogen and includes projects that will add to the greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. It included $1bn for the reef spread over nine years, mostly to help clean up agricultural run-off affecting water quality, and $804m for Antarctic research and strategic capability over a decade. He did mention another commitment that was consistent with the budget’s focus on regional Australia: $148.6m for community solar and wind microgrids in areas too remote to have access to the power grid. The budget papers say this will contribute to a $2bn improvement in the budget bottom line over the next four years. Most, but not all, of that funding has been promised to top up funding for the clean energy agencies, which were created a decade ago under a deal between Labor, the Greens and independents.

The funds are allocated across a ten-year period, with most of the money redirected from defence spending.

The increased focus on offensive initiatives may give us (and our allies) the upper hand for a while, but the cyber world doesn’t stand still. As long as our adversaries are prepared to invest in technologies to infiltrate and damage our critical infrastructure, we will have a continued need to invest in our defences. Cyber defence is a constant game of cat-and-mouse. But this is largely absent in the (brief) REDSPICE blueprint. Launching a highly targeted attack from Australia is certainly possible, but with such attacks we often see consequential damage that affects individuals and systems beyond the target. This is essential in protecting the services we depend on day-to-day.

This year's Budget sees the federal government put cybersecurity development at the fore, along with continued funding of the country's digital economy ...

Australia's flagship digital health initiative, My Health Record, also received more funding in this year's Budget to the tune of AU$23.8 million over four years. As part of the expansion, the federal government will provide concessional tax treatment for corporate taxpayers who commercialise their eligible patents linked to approved agricultural and veterinary chemical products. For Australia's eSafety agency, the federal government will invest AU$31.6 million over the next five years towards online safety initiatives as part of its new national plan to end violence against women and children. The funding was provided as part of the government's response to the Regional Telecommunications Review, which found NBN upgrades will widen the digital divide between rural and urban areas. Australia's space sector also saw a big injection in this year's Budget, with the federal government allocating AU$1.3 billion, AU$38.8 million per year, to grow the sector. The amount allocated to this new system was not disclosed. Looking at how the federal government envisions the AU$9.9 billion will be spent, the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) will be the biggest recipient of these funds. This includes over AU$27 million for the eSafety Commissioner to expand her office's capabilities, which includes supporting victim‑survivors of technology-facilitated abuse. On Monday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a new cyber and critical technology centre that would be set up within the Office of National Intelligence. Since CESAR's rollout, however, there have been limited updates regarding the effectiveness of the program in stopping cyberthreats. "With challenging and changing geopolitical realities -- where technological advantage for our intelligence agencies is more important than ever -- Australia is, as always, stepping up to do more. The near-AU$10 billion will be spent across a decade under a program called Resilience, Effects, Defence, Space, Intelligence, Cyber and Enablers (REDSPICE).

The Australian Government has announced an investment of $9.9 billion to increase the country's intelligence and cybersecurity capabilities.

Regionally, digital commerce in APAC is expected to nearly double in size by 2025. Digital TransformationAustralian Budget 2022 bolsters cyber security sectorThe Australian Government has announced an investment of $9.9 billion to increase the country’s intelligence and cybersecurity capabilities. Cyber ThreatsIriusRisk launches OTM Standard to transform threat modellingThe OTM Standard, released as part of version 4.1 of the IriusRisk product, is an agnostic way of describing a threat model in a simple format. Cloud SecurityFinancial, cloud security sectors collaborate on cyber threatsThe partnership will a set a baseline of expectations related to cybersecurity and roles and responsibilities for cloud deployment. Cyber attacksCyber attacks on the rise due to skyrocketing bot trafficCyberattacks, especially automated ones, of all kinds are on the rise, primarily due to skyrocketing bot traffic. An acronym for Resilience, Effects, Defence, Space, Intelligence, Cyber and Enablers, REDSPICE is the country’s largest investment in cybersecurity to date and has come about in response to the increasing threat of cyber attacks globally. FirewallPalo Alto Networks, AWS launch next-gen firewall to accelerate journey to cloud"The native AWS experience and the proliferation of AWS native services have given organisations the tools they needed to embrace the cloud." Additional tech support will be spent on areas such as regional and rural telecommunications, social media and digital platform work conducted by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, and improvements to the digital infrastructure of the country’s offshore oil and gas regulators and titles administrator. The Australian Government has announced an investment of $9.9 billion to increase the country’s intelligence and cybersecurity capabilities. The announcement comes as part of Australia’s 2022-23 federal Budget and follows the Government’s Cyber Security Strategy established in 2020, a $1.7 billion 10-year plan to ensure online security for individuals, businesses and essential services in the country. The Government is also continuing to prioritise streamlining business interactions by using technology to assist in implementing the new measures announced in the Budget. The Technology Investment Boost will see $1 billion set aside to assist small businesses in their digital transformation and offer those with an annual turnover of under $50 million a 20% deduction on expenses and depreciating asset costs that support a move to digital.

Josh Frydenberg stresses commitment to Medicare and trumpets funding for Trodelvy – a drug used to treat rare form of breast cancer.

The government has already announced $58.1m to support women living with endometriosis. Since March 2020 more than 100m telehealth services have been delivered to 17 million people. This would result in GDP being 0.5% lower, unemployment being 0.25% higher than forecast, and household savings increasing. In the negative scenario, Australia experiences “a more challenging-than-expected health environment” due to the arrival of a more virulent variant in the middle of 2022, coinciding with the flu season. The budget assumes that public health measures including physical distancing and density restrictions will be relaxed but may be “reimposed in a targeted way” in response to outbreaks. It forecasts the economic impact of outbreaks will continue to diminish but raises the possibility of a more bleak outlook if a more virulent variant emerges.