PM’s vow is hollow without fast and effective reform
Anthony Albanese has vowed the most comprehensive reform ever to Defence culture and veterans’ care. But how far is he prepared to go to deliver on the promise?
Defence
ADF sex offenders to be targeted
Sex offenders will be forced out of the ADF and officer promotions will be tied to “emotional intelligence” in a major overhaul to stamp out a veterans’ suicide epidemic.
Former defence chief tipped for top diplomatic role
Angus Campbell is expected to be appointed Australia’s next ambassador to the EU, NATO Belgium and Luxembourg.
US budget plea stokes AUKUS fears
The White House has made an emergency funding request to congress to shore up Virginia-class submarine production, stoking doubts the US will have enough boats to meet its AUKUS pledge.
Asleep at the switch safeguarding critical seabed infrastructure
They’re vital to Australia’s links to the world and variety of green energy generation facilities, yet underwater fibre-optic cables, electricity cables and wind farms are open to attack.
Marles condemns Russia’s nuke threat as ‘reprehensible’
Richard Marles has backed Ukraine’s right to defend itself using long-range US missiles, amid Russia’s nuclear threats.
Defence morale plunges as chiefs fail leadership test
Defence personnel are losing faith in their senior leaders, with fewer than a third of soldiers and sailors now rating their commanders as effective.
Trump urged to support Australia on China, as Rudd warms ties
US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell has warned president-elect Donald Trump not to turn his back on Australia, while ambassador Kevin Rudd declared the country ‘is ready’ to work closely with the new president.
Secrecy over Musk launch for ADF
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has launched a secret communications satellite for the Australian Defence Force just weeks after the Albanese government cancelled a $7bn military space program.
PNG wary of citizenship rule for ADF recruits
Anthony Albanese’s hopes to recruit Papua New Guineans to serve in the ADF have hit a stumbling block, with PNG expressing concern its people would have to take out Australian citizenship.
Japanese troops to join US marines in NT
Up to 600 Japanese amphibious force personnel will join annual US Marines Corps deployments to the Top End from next year, turbocharging training with Australian Defence Force personnel.
Trump will question AUKUS but back it: former NSA chief
Australia must prepare to make the case about key aspects of its alliance with the US to the transactional new president, says the former head of America’s largest intelligence agency.
Marles vows tighter defence bonds with Manila
Richard Marles has vowed to ramp up Australia’s military partnership with The Philippines as Manila warns of China’s increasingly ‘aggressive and illegal’ incursions into its maritime territory.
‘Selfless acts’: posthumous VC for Vietnam vet who braved enemy fire to try to save mates
Richard Norden is the 102nd Australian, and the fifth who served in Vietnam, to receive the nation’s highest military honour. But it didn’t happen without a fight.
Military spending boost ‘a likely demand’
The new Trump administration will pressure Australia to lift defence spending and may renegotiate the AUKUS deal to secure more favourable terms for the US, analysts say.
Budget ‘prioritisation’ in satellite plan axing
The Australian Defence Force may end up buying satellite time from partners or commercial vendors following the axing of a $7bn space project, officials say.
Rinehart blast on defence spending
Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, has blasted the adequacy of Australia’s defence spending and called for investment in sea mines, drones and an Israel-style ‘iron dome’.
Collins subs still up to the job: navy chief
Australia’s Chief of Navy Mark Hammond has blasted ‘criticism and doubt’ over the nation’s Collins-class submarines and their planned AUKUS replacements.
Tony Burke ‘driving a Chinese listening device’
The new Cyber Security Minister is driving a vehicle that Chinese authorities have barred from sensitive sites due to security concerns
Cancel culture: Labor’s defence plans in disarray
The axing of the nation’s biggest-ever space project is a massive blow to the government’s strategic plans and Australia’s credibility with allies and partners.
Satellites go out: Labor to axe $7bn space project
A planned $7bn military-grade satellite communications system Labor gave the green light to 18 months ago will not go ahead, with no money in the Defence budget to pay for it.
Subs pay deal looms amid Collins crisis
The lucrative agreement could end the short-term industrial impasse that has hurt Australia’s defence capacity, but could also add to the already huge AUKUS budget.
Quiet change of plans over AUKUS base
The move has prompted calls from the opposition for greater clarity from the government on the change in approvals plans for the crucial works at HMAS Stirling in WA.
Sub par: Collins-class farce with five boats out of water
Only one of the nation’s ageing Collins-class submarines is currently operational in a critical blow to national security.
AUKUS is safe no matter who’s in the White House: Austal chair
He was appointed, and then sacked, by Donald Trump as US Navy secretary but Austal chair Richard Spencer is comfortable the future of the alliance is safe.
Hard to get bang for your buck when asleep at the wheel
Pat Conroy’s fatuous and preposterous speech to the National Press Club on the coming missile age exemplifies everything that is wrong with defence policy under the Albanese government.
Missile plant ‘too little, too late’, say critics
Australia will get a new guided weapons factory capable of producing up to 4000 missiles a year under a high-risk plan aimed at bolstering the nation’s war stocks and those of key allies for a potential conflict with China.
Locals snubbed in favour of French for artillery shells plant
The Albanese government will snub LNP-linked defence company Nioa to hand a major new contract to produce 155mm artillery shells to a French rival at the centre of a corruption probe.
New Black Hawks on late night counter-terror missions over Sydney
The army has just taken delivery of 10 new Black Hawk helicopters, welcoming back a trusted war horse – and bringing an end to the fiasco of the often-grounded Taipan fleet | WATCH
US ‘on track’ to sell Virginia-class subs to Australia
US congressman and leading AUKUS supporter Joe Courtney, has played down the prospect of the US backtracking from its commitment to sell Australia nuclear-powered submarines.
Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/defence/page/6