The defeat of the British Prime Minister's motion on military intervention in Syria in the House of Commons and President Obama taking the matter to Congress highlights the importance of strengthening Australia's democracy - by making military action subject to a vote in parliament.

Greens spokesperson assisting on Defence, Senator Scott Ludlam, has a War Powers Bill in the Senate to shift the power to make war from the Cabinet to the Parliament.

The Australian Greens today welcomed the Federal Government's decision to bring forward the next Defence White Paper by one year, but questioned the extraordinary $40 billion proposal for a fleet of submarines.

Greens spokesperson assisting on defence Senator Scott Ludlam said, "The 2009 White Paper was directionless and bloated, and included a hardware wishlist that was never credible. It was also startlingly undiplomatic, particularly towards China, and sidelined the findings of its own Community Consultation process."

The Federal Government must rule out allowing US military spy drones to be based on Australia's Cocos Islands, the Greens said today.

Greens spokesperson assisting on Defence, Senator for Western Australia Scott Ludlam, said the Government needs to respond decisively to reports that the US is considering the use of the islands off the north-west coast for surveillance drones and other spy aircraft.