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Jennifer Hewett

Both sides talk about keeping Australians ‘safe’ – but don’t say how

National security concerns are now at the hard centre of this election campaign. But tough statements about the need to prepare for war don’t match the record.

Jennifer HewettColumnist

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The commemoration of Anzac Day and the traditions and sacrifice it represents have become increasingly emotionally potent, particularly for younger generations of Australians. But the savagery of the death and destruction in Ukraine is a daily reminder of the dangerous currency of modern warfare in liberal democracies which had thought themselves to have moved beyond it. Assurances on national security issues can no longer be pushed to the romantic edges of domestic election politics. They are at its hard centre.

Yet the campaign battle over which party can best “deal” with China is, in that sense, irrelevant. The Prime Minister’s talk of sharing the same “red line” as the US about the possibility of a Chinese military base in the Solomon Islands is absurd.

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Jennifer Hewett is the National Affairs columnist. She writes a daily column on politics, business and the economy. Connect with Jennifer on Twitter. Email Jennifer at jennifer.hewett@afr.com

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    Original URL: https://www.afr.com/policy/foreign-affairs/both-sides-talk-about-keeping-australians-safe-but-don-t-say-how-20220425-p5afx6