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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

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Defence

An Australian F-35A aircraft takes off on a training mission at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, USA. *** Local Caption *** Royal Australian Air Force pilots and maintenance personnel are embedded within United States Air Force units and partnering with Lockheed Martin to prepare for the introduction of Australia’s first fifth-generation air combat capability. They will bring home Australia’s first two F-35As in December 2018. The F-35A Joint Strike Fighter is the most advanced, affordable fifth generation multi-role stealth fighter to meet Australia’s need to defeat emerging threats well into the future. The F-35A is truly next-generation due to its stealth capability, advanced sensors, data fusion and its ability to share information with other aircraft, Army units and Navy ships. The Australian Government has approved the purchase of 72 F-35A aircraft to replace F/A-18A/B Hornets. Royal Australian Air Force pilots and maintenance personnel are fully embedded and integrated in USAF squadrons as they prepare to lead Australia’s transition to a fifth-generation Air Force.

Up to 550 F-35s need refits: US

As many as 550 of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighters require refits including two dozen already handed to Australia.

Ben Packham

Foreign AffairsPolitics

Human Rights lawyer Amal Clooney is seen on a screen as she gives evidence in front of a Senate Inquiry on the topic of the Magnitsky Act at Parliament House in Canberra, Friday, May 15, 2020. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch) NO ARCHIVING

Laws could cut off Uighur abusers: Clooney

Amal Clooney has told a parliamentary committee a Magnitsky-style Act could strip assets from those involved in human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

Ben Packham

Politics

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne speaks during Senate Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra, Wednesday, May 13, 2020. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch) NO ARCHIVING

China fears over cable too dear to use

An Australian taxpayer-funded internet cable to PNG is operating at a fraction of its capacity because it is too expensive to use.

Ben Packham

Politics

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - MAY 13: Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton arrives for Question Time in the House of Representatives at Parliament House on May 13, 2020 in Canberra, Australia. Parliament will resume for three days this week but is otherwise adjourned until August. Australian states are now beginning to lift COVID-19 measures with national cabinet mapping out a three-stage program to help the economy return to normal, Treasury estimates it would cost NSW and Victoria $2.4 billion a week combined in lost economic activity if the states had to re-impose the restrictions it started loosening. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is facing the largest budget deficit in Australian fiscal history with Deloitte Access Economics predicting it could reach $143 billion this year and $131.6 billion in 2020-21 financial year as the economy slumps due to measures aimed at stopping the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Sam Mooy/Getty Images)

More power sought for anti-terror spies

ASIO would be able to use tracking devices without a warrant under proposed legislation introduced on Wednesday.

Ben Packham

ChinaPolitics

CEO of Australia-China Business Council, Helen Sawczak, speaking at The AustralianÕs Strategic Forum: How should we manage our relationship with China? in Sydney on Monday 18th November 2019. Picture: Nikki Short

Economy overrides security: business

A key business group said economic interests should take precedence over national security concerns.

Ben Packham

LIVE: CORONAVIRUS CRISISNation

NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet speaks to the media at the Australian Theatre for Young People in Sydney, Wednesday, May 6, 2020. (AAP Image/Joel Carrett) NO ARCHIVING

NSW opens pubs and clubs to revive economy

Pubs and clubs will be able to serve patrons from Friday, with the NSW government ruling they can operate with 10 patrons inside at a time.

Greg Brown, Geoff Chambers and Richard Ferguson

diplomacyPolitics

Former foreign minister Julie Bishop addresses the Quarterly Essay launch event at the Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney, Thursday, November 28, 2019. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts) NO ARCHIVING

Bishop questions ‘weapons’ rhetoric

Former foreign minister Julie Bishop says Australia’s call for ‘weapons inspector’ powers to investigate the coronavirus is ‘inappropriate’.

Ben Packham

exclusivePolitics

Australian Trade Minister Simon Birmingham speaks during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Tuesday, May 12, 2020. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch) NO ARCHIVING

Austrade ‘naive’ over China article

Austrade is conducting an audit of its website after it praised organisations with Chinese Communist Party links for sending medical supplies to China.

Ben Packham

TradeEconomics

Beef cattle and meat sheep being cross-grazed at Nick Austin's property at Mundarlo, NSW. Photo: DANNIKA BONSER

Meat ban means trade war

The government is denying that China’s meat ban is a tit-for-tat skirmish in what’s becoming a full-blown trade war with Australia.

Ben Packham, Richard Ferguson and Geoff Chambers

exclusivePolitics

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne speaks to the media during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Thursday, April 9, 2020. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch) NO ARCHIVING

Aussie tests sent amid China doubt

Pacific nations will be able to conduct accurate coronavirus tests in less than an hour with new Australian-delivered diagnostic kits.

Ben Packham

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/ben-packham/page/193