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Ben PackhamForeign affairs and defence correspondent

Ben Packham is The Australian’s foreign affairs and defence correspondent. He has been a journalist for more than 25 years and is the 2024 recipient of the prestigious Lowy Institute Media Award.

@bennpackham

Ben Packham

Latest

Dramatic escapeNation

Red flags: Aussies flee China

Relations with China hit the lowest point since the 1989 Tiananmen massacre after two journalists fled and a third was detained.

Greg Sheridan, Ben Packham and Will Glasgow

Journalists evacuatedMedia

Chinese harassment felt political: Birtles

ABC journalist Bill Birtles has described being questioned in China as ‘harassment’ after tensions between Canberra and Beijing forced his hurried evacuation overnight.

Olivia Caisley, Will Glasgow and Ben Packham

‘if trials prove successful’Nation

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 4: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison reacts during a media conference at Parliament House on September 4, 2020 in Canberra, Australia. State and Territory leaders met today for the National Cabinet Meeting to discuss alternatives for state border closures and caps on international arrivals in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by David Gray/Getty Images)

Australian-made vaccine ‘within months’

PM says a vaccine should be available within six months, after announcing new deals with two promising options under clinical trial.

Ben Packham

pushed to do ‘the unachievable’Defence

Mark is pictured here during deployment in Afghanistan in 2010. Former SAS captain Mark Wales, who served four tours in Afghanistan, says Australian soldiers were expected to do

Taliban war ‘was doomed to fail’

Former SAS captain Mark Wales says Australian special forces soldiers were overused in Afghanistan.

Ben Packham

Prisoner swapDefence

Sgt Hekmatullah, the Afghan soldier who murdered three Australian troops. Sgt Hekmatullah murdered Lance Corporal 'Rick' Milosevic, Sapper James Martin and Private Robbie Poate as they were relaxing on a remote patrol base in Uruzgan province in late August 2012. Picture courtesy of Four Corners

Diggers’ killer Qatar-bound

Rogue Afghan soldier Hekmatullah will be moved to Qatar ahead of Taliban peace talks, where it is feared he will be released.

Ben Packham

Politics

Author rejects Beijing espionage claims

Detained Australian writer Yang Hengjun has rejected Chinese claims he confessed to spying offences, declaring his innocence and vowing to ‘fight to the end’.

Ben Packham

Defence

Australia's Minister for Defense Linda Reynolds speaks during a press conference at the US Department of State following the 30th AUSMIN on July 28, 2020, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / POOL / AFP)

Cyber spies target defence contractors

The nation’s big defence contractors have been ordered to secure their systems to ensure they can withstand sustained attacks by cyber spies.

Ben Packham

Stranded AussiesNation

The coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent government imposed border closures and travel restrictions has severely impacted tourism in Cairns and Far North Queensland. An almost empty Qantas plane departs Cairns Airport. The company has lost a large amount of business because of the COVID-19 outbreak. PICTURE: BRENDAN RADKE

Last resort loans ‘bandaid on bullet wound

Furious expats say the new assistance measures would load them with further debt over a situation caused by Canberra.

Jacquelin Magnay and Ben Packham

Defence

Diggers’ killer must be free

The Taliban is insisting on the release of rogue soldier Hekmatullah — who murdered three Australians — as the Afghan government moves to free more prisoners.

Ben Packham

FundingPolitics

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA-NCA NewsWire Photos AUGUST 20 2020Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Secretary Frances Adamson appeared before the COVID19 Senate Committee Public Hearing in Parliament House in Canberra.Picture: NCA NewsWire /Gary Ramage

DFAT head pushes back on budget cuts

Weeks after being forced to cut 60 jobs, Frances Adamson says diplomacy is as vital as defence in safeguarding the national interest.

Ben Packham

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/ben-packham/page/182