Major Defence projects currently in development are not at risk of being scrapped, Defence Minister Richard Marles has confirmed following the government's announcement of a new strategic review.
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The existing funding level for the 10-year Integrated Investment Plan was also secure, Mr Marles emphasised.
The Prime Minister however aimed criticism at Defence programs that were "overbudget and delayed", and he avoided giving assurance that recent and not-yet-announced procurement decisions of the previous government would be honoured - instead saying there was a gap between what was promised and what was delivered.
"There are currently 30 major defence projects running a total of 79 years late," Anthony Albanese told Parliament.
"We want to make sure that Defence has the capability and force structure that is fit for purpose, that is affordable and delivers the greatest return on investment."
The review, led by Labor's last defence minister, Stephen Smith, and former defence chief Sir Angus Houston will focus on what capabilities were needed as a priority for Defence's 10-year schedule of procurement.
The Prime Minister said the review, which will fulfil Labor's promise to conduct a force structure review, will not retread hypotheticals from the 2020 strategic update that identified that Defence planners would not have a 10-year warning period before major conflict. Labor agreed with that update, he said.
Mr Marles said Defence projects were often planned over decades, but the review needed to focus on the next decade.
"There are major platforms that are currently under way, and they will obviously continue," Mr Marles said.
"We are wanting to apply a critical eye to the Integrated Investment Plan - we want to do that to make sure that it is fit for purpose in terms of the challenges that we face."
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The review will be conducted in parallel with the development of the nuclear submarine delivery plan with AUKUS partners, and handed down early in 2023.
Labor has been critical of the previous Coalition government for leaving an interim capability gap before the first nuclear submarines under the AUKUS agreement become available in the 2030s.
The Liberal and National opposition's defence spokesman Andrew Hastie said the government needed to "make speed" to deliver new nuclear submarines from the existing UK and US construction pipelines this decade.
"Sure, there might be an interim capability gap, but we can't go down a conventional submarine that will be outdated by the time it's in the water and will also draw away resources that is needed for the delivery of the nuclear submarine," Mr Hastie said.
The government did not elaborate on what other areas of capability it wanted the review to explore, but Mr Hastie had ideas such as strike missiles along with dealing with greater fuel security "so that our Defence Force can actually fight", and cyber security.
Sir Angus Houston said the review was an absolute imperative to ensure the Defence Force was ready to meet the challenges of what he described as the worst security circumstances he had seen in his military career and life-time.
The Prime Minister told reporters that the objective of the government was to do all it could to advance peace and security in the region.
"I firmly believe that one of the objectives front and centre of having a strong defence of Australia is to make sure that we avoid conflict," he told reporters.
Harley Dennett
Former federal politics bureau chief for the Canberra Times, via a career that's taken me from rural Victoria to Washington DC. Telling the stories of my local LGBTI community brought me to political journalism, where I've covered eight budgets, four national elections in two countries, Defence, public service and international governance.
Former federal politics bureau chief for the Canberra Times, via a career that's taken me from rural Victoria to Washington DC. Telling the stories of my local LGBTI community brought me to political journalism, where I've covered eight budgets, four national elections in two countries, Defence, public service and international governance.
