Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull wants to spend $3.8 Billion to help Australian defense businesses sell more military hardware around the world.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute says Australia is ranked 20th on its list of arms exporters (.pdf link), with a 0.3 percent share of the market.  Turnbull believes Oz should be in the top ten.

"Given the size of our defence budget, we should be a lot higher up the scale," he told reporters. 

Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne told the ABC's AM program, "We sell a veritable welter of (defence) products, but we haven't really taken it to the next level, which is to seriously compete in the world for a part of what is a $1.5 trillion part of the world economy."

The Bushmaster armoured four-wheel drive vehicle by Thales Australia is already a fairly big seller.  The company is welcoming the taxpayer's financial help to help it market the lighter Hawkei vehicle. 

Mr. Pyne said the $3.8 Billion expenditure could create thousands of new jobs, which sits well with Labor MP Anthony Albanese:  "I'm very supportive of any proposal that creates jobs, that's the starting point," he told ABC Radio.

But Greens leader Richard Di Natale is appalled, saying the plan shows Mr. Turnbull wanted Australia to become a "massive exporter of death". 

Amnesty International's Diana Sayed finds problems with increased sales to states such as the United Arab Emirates.  "We are seriously concerned about indications that the Australian Government intends to become a major arms exporter to volatile regions that have appalling human rights records," she said.

Save the Children's Australian CEO Paul Ronalds said Australia needs to go in the opposite direction:  "As an organisation working on the front-lines in conflict zones, we also know that an increase in the supply of arms and munitions is not the answer," Mr. Ronalds said.

That sentiment was echoed by Marc Purcell from the Australian Council for International Development.  "In a very uncertain international environment where conflict is much more likely, we should be using our diplomatic efforts to build peace," Mr Purcell said.  "We should not be getting into the game of marketing weapons which kill, maim, and bring great sorrow and destruction to communities around the world," he added.