After Defence Minister Richard Marles announced a review of the ADF on whether it's equipped to meet future challenges, Senator Birmingham said it had not been any Australian government that had contributed to increased tensions in the Indo-Pacific.
One of the people heading up the review, retired Air Chief Marshal Sir Angus Houston, said the current strategic circumstances had been the "worst I have ever seen in my career and lifetime".
Senator Birmingham denied the former coalition government had contributed to the circumstances.
"Angus Houston was reflecting on the security environment we face within our region, it wasn't any Australian government - Labor, Liberal or otherwise - who created a rise in military activity across the region," he told ABC radio on Thursday.
"(Angus Houston's comment) was on the tensions we face in the region, the build up in relation to the South China Sea, all of those issues, and of course, the rise in autocracies."
Senator Birmingham defended the previous government's record on defence preparedness, highlighting its role in increasing defence spending and the creation of the AUKUS security pact with the United States and the United Kingdom.
"We invested in relationships in the region to enhance security," he said.
"The security relationships, the defence investment, the procurement activities we undertook were indeed very significant during the nine years of government."
Former Labor defence minister Stephen Smith will also head up the review.
The review will be the first of its kind since 2012, and will be done alongside the consultation process for the AUKUS agreement on which nuclear submarines Australia will acquire under the pact.
Mr Marles told reporters Labor would not cut back on defence spending going forward in government.
He hit back at criticism about the appointment of Sir Angus and Mr Smith to lead the review.
"I don't think we could want for two more experienced and eminent Australians when it comes to defence," he said.
Opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie has criticised the appointment of Mr Smith saying the former minister presided over the biggest defence cuts in seven decades.
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