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“I don’t identify as a member of the national security community”: Elbridge Colby says he maintains a maverick streak.

‘Bridge’ Colby: Who is the ‘maverick’ putting AUKUS through the wringer?

The China hawk, who is now third-in-charge at the Pentagon and is reviewing the submarine deal, has quickly courted controversy. So what does he want from Australia?

  • Michael Koziol

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Australian ambassador to the United States, Kevin Rudd, at the Aspen Security Forum.

Rudd pushes back on US claim that Australia needs to ‘step up’ on defence

“We’re pretty bullish about our contribution,” Australia’s ambassador to the US said amid calls for Canberra to increase defence spending as part of the AUKUS agreement.

  • Michael Koziol
AUKUS critic Elbridge Colby and Anthony Albanese.

He’s a sceptic. So what might Colby recommend to Trump on AUKUS?

Donald Trump’s defence undersecretary Elbridge Colby is reviewing the AUKUS pact and could suggest big changes, but defence experts say some of those ideas are non-starters.

  • Brittany Busch
A FA-18A Hornet, A21-022, is craned into the new Anzac Hall, scheduled to be completed in 2026. It is the first time the Hornet has been on permanent display at the Australian War Memorial.
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Timelapse of Hornet plane being installed

A FA-18A Hornet, A21-022, is craned into the new Anzac Hall, scheduled to be completed in 2026. It is the first time the Hornet has been on permanent display at the Australian War Memorial.

Former PM Malcolm Turnbull has been critical of the AUKUS deal.

Any AUKUS pledges ‘won’t be worth paper they’re written on’: Turnbull

The former prime minister says it is impossible for Australia to promise nuclear-powered submarines for a hypothetical contingency.

  • Michael Koziol
Illustration by Simon Letch

Trump wants us to spend a bomb on defence. We should think twice

We’re told that our defence spending must be greatly increased. But if Trump and the gleeful defenceniks have their way, we’ll be poorer and no safer.

  • Ross Gittins
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, walk along the Bund with former Socceroo and Shanghai Port FC manager Kevin Muscat.

Albanese’s sunny welcome in Shanghai overshadowed by AUKUS dilemma

Recent engagements between Australia and China have been dripping in niceties, but the shadow of Trump looms over the prime minister’s six-day tour through China.

  • Paul Sakkal
Anthony Albanese and Donald Trump.

Albanese won’t say if Australia would follow the US to war over Taiwan

After this masthead confirmed the Pentagon wants the question answered, the Prime Minister reiterated the submarine pact was for “peace and security in our region”.

  • Paul Sakkal and Michael Koziol
Donald Trump and Elon Musk effectively dismantled USAID overnight, a move projected to cost 14 million lives by the end of the decade.

Bigger defence budgets are more often a prelude to war, not peace

USAid cuts are predicted to kill 14 million people in the next five years. As the world squabbles over defence spending, the deaths are beginning.

  • Tim Costello

Australia can’t expect ‘business as usual’ with Trump 2.0. So what’s the plan?

There is uncertainty about who is calling the shots at the heart of the Trump administration. That presents risk, and opportunity, for allies like Australia.

  • Michael Koziol

Original URL: https://www.watoday.com.au/topic/defence-5w8