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Ben PackhamForeign Affairs and Defence Correspondent

Ben Packham is The Australian’s foreign affairs and defence correspondent. To contact him securely use the Signal App. See his Twitter bio for details.

@bennpackham

Ben Packham

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EXCLUSIVEPolitics

Albanese, Wong dine with CCP friends

Labor has courted Beijing-backed property developers and senior figures in the Chinese Communist Party’s foreign influence arm in a pre-election push for donations and votes in key seats.

Ben Packham and David Tanner

DefenceDefence

2025 Avalon International Air Show. Friday. RAAF F-35A in action. Picture: David Caird

Military hike kicked down the road

The Coalition would defer 40 per cent of its promised $21bn defence spending boost until the fifth year of a Dutton government and cut foreign aid by more than $800m.

Ben Packham

MilitaryDefence

An Australian Army M1A1 Abrams Tank from the 2nd/14th Light Horse Regiment (Queensland Mounted Infantry), 7th Combat Brigade fires its main gun during a live fire practice at Shoalwater Bay Training Area as part of Exercise Diamond Run 2017. Picture: Department of Defence

Labor firm on tanks, Ukraine deployment

Anthony Albanese says Australia remains open to contributing peacekeeping troops to a “coalition of the willing” in Ukraine as the UK prepares to scale back the mission.

Ben Packham

EXCLUSIVEPolitics

4 April 2025; Dutton and Trump stand against a backdrop of the collage of the USA flag, grid and ocean waves, Donald Trump & Peter Dutton. Sources: iStock, and Supplied. Artwork by Frank Ling. Ratio 16:9. For DIGITAL.

Dutton vows $2bn Pacific loan blitz to undercut China

Peter Dutton is moving to distance himself from Donald Trump’s foreign aid cuts, pledging an extra $2bn in Pacific infrastructure loans to counter surging Chinese influence.

Ben Packham

ExclusiveDefence

(FILES) A file photo taken on May 9, 2019, shows an Australian army M1A1 Abrams main battle tank firing a round at a target during Excercise Chong Ju, a live fire demonstration showcasing the army's joint combined arms capabilities at the Puckapunyal Military Base some 100 kilometres north of Melbourne. - Facing a wobbly ally in the United States and an increasingly bellicose China, Australia's foremost military strategists are cautiously debating whether the country needs to consider developing nuclear weapons. A century-old alliance with the United States brought bankable security guarantees, while mineral exports to China ensured 28 recession-free years at home. This happy arrangement meant the vast majority of Australians could keep the world at a safe distance, preoccupying themselves with a spectacular country, a panoply of spectator sports or the rolling soap opera that is domestic politics. (Photo by William WEST / AFP) / TO GO WITH: ustralia-China-US-Defence, FOCUS by Andrew BEATTY

Aussie tanks pledged to Ukraine stuck 15,000km from frontline

Forty-nine Australian Army tanks promised to Ukraine six months ago are yet to leave the country amid delays by the Trump administration in approving the deal.

Ben Packham and Michael McKenna

EXCLUSIVEDefence

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - Advertiser Photos APRIL 18, 2022: Minister for Defence Peter Dutton at ASC North inspecting HMAS DECHAINEUX a Collins Class Submarine in Osborne, SA. Picture Emma Brasier

Call-up for experts as Coalition pledges to give ADF some bite

A Dutton government would prioritise new strike and counter-strike weapons to deter more powerful adversaries.

Ben Packham

Election 2025Politics

NCA 2025 FEDERAL ELECTION Labor BUS. DAY 9 06/04/2025 Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the campaign trail In QLD.Australian Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese holding a Building Australias Future Rally in Brisbane along with Jodie Haydon.Renee Coffey, candidate for Griffith Wayne SwanPicture: Jason Edwards / NewsWire

Swan ‘bells the cat’ on Labor view of defence

ALP president Wayne Swan has come under fire for dismissing higher defence funding as unnecessary.

Ben Packham

defenceDefence

NCA 2025 FEDERAL ELECTION LIBERAL BUS. 23/04/2025Pictured is Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton as he visits Blacktree Technology at Belmont in the Swan electorate of Perth WA with Shadow Defence Minister Andrew Hastie and Liberal candidate for Swan Mic Fels. Picture: Richard Dobson / NewsWire

Higher taxes ‘will fund military might’

Peter Dutton has revealed he will pay for his $21bn defence funding boost by hitting households with higher income taxes, amid blowback over his failure to say what new military capabilities a Coalition government would buy.

Ben Packham and Jack Quail

commentaryDefence

NCA 2025 FEDERAL ELECTION LIBERAL BUS. 23/04/2025Pictured is Shadow Defence Minister Andrew Hastie as he talks to the media as he visits Blacktree Technology at Belmont in the Swan electorate of Perth WA with Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton. Picture: Richard Dobson / NewsWire

Coalition’s popgun policy lacking in credible detail

The Coalition’s defence policy is remarkably thin on detail and has come too late in the campaign to make much of a difference anyway.

Ben Packham

Politics NowPolitics

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - NewsWire Photos - 23 APRIL, 2025: Mark Butler MP, Minister for Health and Aged Care debates Senator Anne Ruston, Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care at the National Press Club of Australia in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Some GP patients will still pay gap fee: Health Minister

Mark Butler admits some people will continue to be charged a gap fee under a re-elected Labor government, despite Anthony Albanese saying they only need their Medicare card for doctors’ visits

Sarah Ison, Greg Brown and Ben Packham

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/ben-packham