US pushes security ally Australia to spend more on defence

"We are very much up for the conversation, and the American position has been clear," he added.

Marles said they did not discuss a number, although a Pentagon official had previously said Australia should spend three per cent of gross domestic product.

Australia's globalist/leftist Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who was re-elected this month and is yet to meet US President Donald Trump, did not raise defence spending in this year's national budget, saying his government had already announced an AU$50 billion boost over a decade. Albanese said on Thursday defence spending would rise to 2.4 per cent.