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    Richard Marles

    This Month

    An Australian Collins class submarine.

    Defence’s big budget boost four years away, as soldier shortage hits 5000

    Despite dire strategic times, defence spending will hover just above 2 per cent for several years before starting to meaningfully rise from mid-2027.

    • Andrew Tillett
    Australia has protested to Beijing that a Chinese fighter jet endangered an Australian navy helicopter over international waters.

    Military tensions flare on the road to stability with China

    A near miss between a Chinese fighter jet and Australian helicopter show that friction remains despite improvement in ties between Beijing and Canberra.

    • Andrew Tillett
    An Australia MH-60R Seahawk.

    Navy helicopter near miss in latest Chinese confrontation

    Australian personnel had to take evasive action when their helicopter was confronted by a Chinese fighter jet.

    • Andrew Tillett
    China

    Australia, US, Japan, Philippines vow to step up military drills

    Four way defence ministers meeting in Hawaii raise concerns over China’s clashes with Filipino ships in South China Sea.

    • Andrew Tillett
    Korean shipbuilders Hanwha Ocean and Hyundai Heavy Industries have their Daegu class frigate under consideration for the Australian navy’s general purpose frigate.

    Hanwha could face long wait for answer on Austal bid

    The Albanese government is likely to prioritise picking a new frigate design over considering a foreign takeover bid for the Perth shipbuilder.

    • Andrew Tillett
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    ‘No concerns’ with South Korean takeover bid for Austal: Marles

    Defence Minister Richard Marles has given a fillip to Hanwha’s bid to buy Perth shipbuilder Austal, despite the deal raising security concerns.

    • Andrew Tillett and Brad Thompson

    April

    Outgoing Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare could remain a major player in Solomon Islands politics despite his demise.

    Chinese influence lingers in Solomons despite Sogavare ouster

    The new Solomon Islands government is not expected to be as overtly hostile to Australia after Manasseh Sogavare declared he will not recontest the prime ministership.

    • Andrew Tillett

    Russian missiles pound Ukraine’s battered power plants

    Russian missiles again targeted the nation’s strained energy grid in a broad and complex attack, as Defence Minister Richard Marles pledged $100 million in aid.

    • Updated
    • Olena Harmash and Tom Balmforth
    Defence Minister Richard Marles visits Ukrainian troops at a training facility near Lviv, near the Polish border on Saturday.

    Failure to reopen Australia embassy in Kyiv ‘an embarrassment’

    Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles visited Ukraine to unveil the package, including drones and air-defence systems, but there was one glaring omission from his trip.

    • Hans van Leeuwen and Ronald Mizen
    Xi Jinping.

    The ‘frightening discussion’ Australia needs to have about China

    Defence experts are urging the Albanese government to canvass how the civilian population and industry could be mobilised on a war footing.

    • Andrew Tillett
    David Rowe

    Australia must pay the price for defence and deterrence

    A generation of politicians who grew up with a post-Cold War peace dividend are now struggling to switch from welfare to warfare.

    • The AFR View
    A RAAF No.1 Squadron F/A-18 Super Hornet.

    Navy, RAAF face cuts to pay for $330b in new weapons

    While the government touts its $330 billion new weapons blueprint, concerns are being raised about programs that have been scrapped.

    • Andrew Tillett
    Bondi Westfield on Thursday.

    Mourners pay tribute to Bondi victims as shopping centre reopens

    People have gathered at Westfield Bondi Junction in the eastern suburbs to pay tribute to the six people murdered last weekend. How the day unfolded.

    • Updated
    • Gus McCubbing and Andrew Hobbs

    Subs ahoy! Marles defends Labor’s record in defence

    Richard Marles argues the Labor government has delivered dramatic reform in defence to project Australia into a much changed and more dangerous region. Is that right?

    • Updated
    • Jennifer Hewett
    NA

    Defence strategy fills gaps but misses holes

    We need to move towards a wider conversation around national security and mobilisation, and be clear on the vulnerability in our capabilities until the late 2030s.

    • Jennifer Parker
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    Defence Minister Richard Marles warns Australia faces a precarious decade.

    Defence’s $330b plan still leaves decade of danger

    Defence Minister Richard Marles says Australia faces a “precarious” decade, by the end of which defence spending will be about $100 billion a year.

    • Andrew Tillett
    Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last year.

    First Japan, now Canada wants in on AUKUS

    China says AUKUS plans to broaden participation in its military technology sharing agreement is “stoking bloc confrontation”.

    • Updated
    • Andrew Tillett and Matthew Cranston
    Vice Admiral David Johnston.

    Two years to fix Defence: New military chief’s mission

    Bedding down AUKUS and recruiting new personnel are key challenges for the new Defence chief amid warnings China will be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027.

    • Updated
    • Andrew Tillett
    Vice Admiral David Johnston is Australia’s new military chief.

    ‘Never seen him riled up’: Meet Australia’s new defence chief

    Vice Admiral David Johnston has had plenty of tough jobs to prepare him to take command of Australia’s military.

    • Andrew Tillett
    USS Mobile, JS Akebono, HMAS Warramunga and BRP Antonio Luna during a multilateral maritime cooperative activity between Australia, the United States, Japan and the Philippines off the coast within the Philippines Exclusive Economic Zone

    China lashes joint war games involving Australia

    As AUKUS members prepare to open talks with Japan on joining the pact, China warned against “provocative” destabilisation in the South China Sea.

    • Andrew Tillett