Military upgrades: peace and freedom the Morrison way

Scott Morrison has reaffirmed Australia’s commitment to peace and stability, as China accused his government of ‘fanning confrontation and hyping up the threat of war’.

Scott Morrison visits the Robertson Barracks in Darwin after announcing a $747m package for upgrades to defence facilities in the Northern Territory on Wednesday. Picture: Adam Taylor/PMO

Scott Morrison has reaffirmed Australia’s commitment to pursuing peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, as China accused the federal government of “fanning confrontation and hyping up the threat of war”.

Announcing a $747m upgrade to four Defence training facilities in the Northern Territory on Wednesday, the Prime Minister said Australia would work with the US to exert a positive influence on regional security.

“Our objective here is to ensure a peaceful region but one (where), at the same time, Australia is in a position to always protect its interests, always advance our national interests, always support a global world order that favours freedom,” Mr Morrison said.

“And that is something that we share very deeply with our American friends and allies.”

His comment came just days after one of the nation’s most senior bureaucrats, Home Affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo, warned “the drums of war are beating”, and Australia might have to “send off … our warriors to fight”.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian blasted Mr Pezzullo’s remarks, noting many Australians had branded them as “shocking and lunatic” on social media.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian.

“Some politicians from the Australian side out of their self-interests are obsessed with fanning confrontation and hyping up the threat of war,” Mr Zhao said at a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday night.

“This is not responsible and will get no support. We urge relevant people from the Australian side to abandon their Cold War mentality, stop making irresponsible remarks and do things that are conducive to regional peace and stability.”

Mr Pezzullo, who is tipped to take the top job at Defence, said in his Anzac Day message to staff that Australia must strive for peace, but needed to be “armed, strong and ready for war”.

The comments made headlines internationally, including on the front page of The Times in London.

Former Labor foreign minister Bob Carr said Mr Pezzullo and others in the government appeared to “imagine themselves as Winston Churchill”.

“Using slipshod, over-the-trenches rhetoric like this should be a disqualification from being at any meeting of the National ­Security Committee of Cabinet,” Mr Carr wrote on Twitter.

But speaking at The Australian Financial Review’s Government Services Summit, Mr Pezzullo sought to clarify his message as “a lament for peace”.

“It’s a very personal lament for those who have fallen in the past. Surely on Anzac Day, of all days we should be, if nothing else, conscious of their sacrifice and just grappling with this challenge of constantly seeking to find peace,” he said.

The Northern Territory upgrades to Robertson Barracks and the Kangaroo Flats, Mount Bundey and Bradshaw training areas, were flagged in a 2019 tender process. They include new weapons ranges, battle simulation systems, urban operations training environments, helicopter landing sites and the lengthening of the Bradshaw Field Training Area’s airstrip to support heavier aircraft.

The upgrades come amid growing tensions between the West and China, with Taiwan as a potential flashpoint.

But Mr Morrison emphasised Australia’s “positive agency” in the region. “We work right across the government in all the areas that we have that opportunity — diplomatic and other channels — to work with partners in the ­region to ensure our region is safe, that it is stable and that there is a balance that favours freedom ultimately,” he said.

Labor downplayed the significance of the announcement, noting the upgrades were announced two years ago and would now cost $300m more than anticipated.

“The government needs to just stop re-announcing the same things over and over again,” Labor leader Anthony Albanese said.

“The issues raised today were on the table prior to the Defence update of 2020. So once again we see a re-announcement but with an inflated price to hide the fact this government doesn’t deliver.”

Mr Albanese said the ADF deserved more than “a Prime Minister who seems intent on using them for photo opportunities”.

Mr Morrison said the plan had “been upgraded and adapted to deal with the new force posture and strategic update that I outlined last year”.

US Marines have been arriving in Darwin in groups of between 200 and 500 since February for their 10th annual joint exercises with the ADF.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison visits the Robertson Barracks in Darwin. Picture Adam Taylor/PMO

By June, about 2200 US troops are expected to be in the NT for operation Talisman Sabre, which will involve a range of training ­activities including ­humanitarian assistance, security operations and high-end live-fire exercises.

A Taiwan-China clash is looming as the top security threat for the Biden administration and US allies as Beijing ramps up preparations for a conflict with the nation of 24 million that it claims to be an “inviolable” part of China.

Chinese President Xi Jinping last week launched three new warships that the country’s analysts said could be used in a conflict with Taiwan. They included a hi-tech amphibious helicopter carrier, a guided-missile cruiser with stealth technology, and an upgraded nuclear submarine.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton told the ABC on Sunday that Australians needed to be realistic about China’s increasing militarisation across the region, while adding: “No one wants to see con­flict between China and Taiwan.”