Australia unveils new defence tack, with an eye on 'coercive' China

Focus now on building deterrent force that can protect its interests in immediate region

Australia unveiled its first National Defence Strategy on April 17, signalling a new focus on deterring China's "coercive tactics" in a region seen as lurching towards conflict.

The 80-page document offers a gloomy assessment of Pacific security and sets out a massive increase in defence spending to retool Australia's military to cope.

"The optimistic assumptions that guided defence planning after the end of the Cold War are long gone," said Defence Minister Richard Marles, presenting the new strategy.

Warning that "China has employed coercive tactics in pursuit of its strategic objectives", the text describes an Australia vulnerable to foes strangling trade or preventing access to vital air and sea routes.

"We are a maritime trading island nation," Mr Marles said.