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Perth Now
33 minutes ago
- Perth Now
US bombshell hits PM's China trip
One of Donald Trump's key defence advisers and the man in charge of the AUKUS review has doubled down on Australia's need to increase defence spending, following reports that Australian defence officials have been urged to commit to supporting the United States if China were to invade Taiwan. US Undersecretary of Defence Elbridge Colby said the US' position of 'achieving peace through strength' was 'abundantly and consistently clear,' and would include urging allies to 'step up their defence spending and other efforts related to our collective defence'. This follows Mr Hegseth's call for Australia to boost immediately boost investment from 2 per cent to 3.5 per cent of GDP, about $40bn, significantly beyond Labor's current commitment to reach 2.33 per cent by 2033. While Mr Colby, a noted China hawk, didn't name countries who are lagging on their funding commitments, he said the US would 'not be deterred'. Eldridge Colby's call comes as Australia has resisted calls from the US to increase spending. NewsWire/ Nikki Short Credit: News Corp Australia 'Of course, some among our allies might not welcome frank conversations. But many, now led by NATO after the historic Hague Summit, are seeing the urgent need to step up and are doing so,' he wrote on X. 'President Trump has shown the approach and the formula – and we will not be deterred from advancing his agenda.' His comments follow reports in the Financial Times on Saturday that Mr Colby has been pushing Japanese and Australian defence officials on their response if China invaded Taiwan, an outcome US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said was an 'imminent' threat. Quoting one US official, they told the UK publication that while the US does 'not seek war,' or to 'dominate China,' the US wants to ensure both it and its allies 'have the military strength to underwrite diplomacy and guarantee peace'. Speaking to the ABC on Sunday, Acting Defence Minister Pat Conroy would not 'engage in hypotheticals' or 'disclose confidential discussions'. 'The sole power to commit Australia to war or to allow our territory to be used for a conflict is the elected government of the day,' he said. 'That is our position. Sovereignty will always be prioritised, and that will continue to be our position.' Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy addresses the National Press Club of Australia in Canberra. NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia Australia has repeatedly rebuffed calls from the US to boost defence spending, stating that the amount will be decided according to Australia's sovereign needs, which has in-turn put pressure on the alliance, and Anthony Albanese's attempts to secure a tariff exemption. While politically, the Prime Minister is under increasing pressure to secure a meeting with Mr Trump, the leaders are set to have a face-to-face talk in early September during the Quad meeting in India. This will also be the first in-person meeting between Mr Albanese and Mr Trump since the President's re-election in November, however the leaders have shared three phone calls. Echoing comments made by Anthony Albanese, who is currently on a six-day diplomatic mission in China, Foreign Minister Penny Wong last week said that said Australia's security should not be defined 'simply in the terms of what China or the United States is doing in the regions'. 'Instead Australia will 'take our own approach to our relationships, to the rules and to this region that we share,' she said while attending the ASEAN Summit in Malaysia.
Sydney Morning Herald
an hour ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Britain's strategic priorities have changed. Australia must take note
Last Monday, the British government formally launched its new National Security Strategy. Publication of the much-anticipated document came on the heels of the NATO summit a fortnight earlier, at which Britain, along with all other NATO members (except Spain) pledged to lift their defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP by 2034. Given domestic pressures on the budget in Britain and other NATO countries, that is probably unachievable. Nevertheless, there is now bipartisan agreement in the UK on an urgent need to significantly elevate defence spending over the coming decade. The National Security Strategy is premised on that expectation. With Anthony Albanese visiting China this week, and as we await the outcome of the Colby review of AUKUS, Australian eyes are rightly focused on Beijing and Washington. Why should strategic decisions made in London matter to Australia? The United Kingdom has long been, second only to the United States, our most important strategic partner: through the Five Eyes security network, the Five Power Defence arrangements, and now through AUKUS itself. This has also been our most longstanding military and intelligence relationship and – at a time of American unpredictability – our most reliable one. A significant reorientation of the foreign policy of such an important ally – particularly when it involves a change of its approach to our region – matters a great deal. The launch of the National Security Strategy coincided with the first anniversary of the election of Sir Keir Starmer's Labour government. Starmer's landslide victory, after a campaign in which he made himself the smallest possible target, was overwhelmingly driven by public contempt for what had become a comically dysfunctional Conservative government. Starmer's one-word slogan 'Change' captured the public mood but, in its very vacuousness, also demonstrated how anaemic Labour's offering was. The only message: 'We're not them.' Domestically, Starmer has had a miserable first year. The economy is in an even worse condition than it was when he was elected; capital is fleeing in the face of punitive taxes; the number of illegal arrivals across the English Channel has exploded to 44,000 on Labour's watch. As his government marked its first anniversary, a backbench revolt forced it to abandon reforms to the welfare system, leading to a £5 billion fiscal hole which will undoubtedly be filled with yet higher taxes, accelerating the capital flight. It all has a very retro, 1970s feel. The abysmal state of the nation is, naturally, reflected in opinion polls: Labour's support has collapsed to 23.9 per cent, nearly five points behind Nigel Farage's insurgent Reform Party. While the Tories remain a joke, Labour is already being seen as a failed experiment. Yet amidst the domestic gloom, foreign policy has, to the surprise of many, emerged as Starmer's strong suit. What has stood out, in particular, has been his deft handling of Donald Trump – a feat that has eluded most world leaders. On Friday, it was announced that Trump will visit Scotland next month, where he will combine the opening of a new golf course with a bilateral meeting with Starmer. Then, later in the year, he will be flattered by the panoply of a full State visit, at the invitation of King Charles. Two visits in six months (plus an early and successful visit by Starmer to the White House) is pretty effective diplomacy. Some prime ministers can't even get a meeting.
The Age
an hour ago
- The Age
Britain's strategic priorities have changed. Australia must take note
Last Monday, the British government formally launched its new National Security Strategy. Publication of the much-anticipated document came on the heels of the NATO summit a fortnight earlier, at which Britain, along with all other NATO members (except Spain) pledged to lift their defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP by 2034. Given domestic pressures on the budget in Britain and other NATO countries, that is probably unachievable. Nevertheless, there is now bipartisan agreement in the UK on an urgent need to significantly elevate defence spending over the coming decade. The National Security Strategy is premised on that expectation. With Anthony Albanese visiting China this week, and as we await the outcome of the Colby review of AUKUS, Australian eyes are rightly focused on Beijing and Washington. Why should strategic decisions made in London matter to Australia? The United Kingdom has long been, second only to the United States, our most important strategic partner: through the Five Eyes security network, the Five Power Defence arrangements, and now through AUKUS itself. This has also been our most longstanding military and intelligence relationship and – at a time of American unpredictability – our most reliable one. A significant reorientation of the foreign policy of such an important ally – particularly when it involves a change of its approach to our region – matters a great deal. The launch of the National Security Strategy coincided with the first anniversary of the election of Sir Keir Starmer's Labour government. Starmer's landslide victory, after a campaign in which he made himself the smallest possible target, was overwhelmingly driven by public contempt for what had become a comically dysfunctional Conservative government. Starmer's one-word slogan 'Change' captured the public mood but, in its very vacuousness, also demonstrated how anaemic Labour's offering was. The only message: 'We're not them.' Domestically, Starmer has had a miserable first year. The economy is in an even worse condition than it was when he was elected; capital is fleeing in the face of punitive taxes; the number of illegal arrivals across the English Channel has exploded to 44,000 on Labour's watch. As his government marked its first anniversary, a backbench revolt forced it to abandon reforms to the welfare system, leading to a £5 billion fiscal hole which will undoubtedly be filled with yet higher taxes, accelerating the capital flight. It all has a very retro, 1970s feel. The abysmal state of the nation is, naturally, reflected in opinion polls: Labour's support has collapsed to 23.9 per cent, nearly five points behind Nigel Farage's insurgent Reform Party. While the Tories remain a joke, Labour is already being seen as a failed experiment. Yet amidst the domestic gloom, foreign policy has, to the surprise of many, emerged as Starmer's strong suit. What has stood out, in particular, has been his deft handling of Donald Trump – a feat that has eluded most world leaders. On Friday, it was announced that Trump will visit Scotland next month, where he will combine the opening of a new golf course with a bilateral meeting with Starmer. Then, later in the year, he will be flattered by the panoply of a full State visit, at the invitation of King Charles. Two visits in six months (plus an early and successful visit by Starmer to the White House) is pretty effective diplomacy. Some prime ministers can't even get a meeting.
