Targeting Asia-Pacific defence, Australia to spend $580 mln on military upgrades

Australia will spend A$747 million ($580 million) to upgrade four northern military bases and expand war games with the United States, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday.

In an announcement that comes amid an increasingly bitter diplomatic and trade spat with China, Morrison said Australia must expand its military assets in the Northern Territory to be able respond to unspecified tensions in the Asia-Pacific region.

"Our objective is a free and open Indo-Pacific, to ensure a peaceful region, one that, at the same time, Australia is in a position to always protect its interests," Morrison told reporters in Darwin.

While Morrison avoided naming China on Wednesday, Australia's military focus on the Indo-Pacific area comes amid rising competition between the two for influence in the region in recent years.