Coalition home affairs spokesman Andrew Hastie says Australia isn't obligated to declare position on hypothetical Taiwan conflict
Mr Hastie, a former SAS commander, has lashed the Pentagon demand as 'unreasonable'.
The Financial Times has reported Elbridge Colby – Pentagon policy chief and the man leading the US review into the AUKUS agreement – has urged Australian and Japanese officials to reveal their position in meetings.
Asked whether Australia was 'obligated to clarify what our role is', Mr Hastie said: 'I don't think we are'.
'I think the US is ambiguous in its position with Taiwan. If that's the case they can't expect their allies to be declaring their position hypothetically,' Mr Hastie said.
'I know at the operational level I'm sure there's all sorts of war gaming and war planning about different scenarios that could occur in the Indo Pacific, but I think it's unreasonable for Australia to have to declare a position for a hypothetical.'
However, he said Australia needed to be 'ready' and willing to work with the US to ensure we were 'intimately involved in integrated deterrence throughout the region,' something he said Anthony Albanese was 'failing' on.
'The US has made it very clear that that's what they want as well, and that's why our partnership is so important, and that's why the Prime Minister is failing, because he's yet to secure a meeting with Donald Trump,' Mr Hastie said.
'And he's yet to really voice the national interest in personal terms to the President of the United States.'
Asked about the reports on Sunday, the Prime Minister said he supported the 'status quo when it comes to Taiwan'.
Speaking from Shanghai on his six day trip to China, he said it was 'important' to have a 'stable, orderly, coherent position' and reiterated calls for 'peace and security in our region'.
Mr Hastie also rebuffed comments from Mr Albanese that there needed to 'be a little bit of perspective' on a potential meeting with US President Donald Trump.
Mr Hastie said the leaders needed to have a conversation about the AUKUS review, as well as demand transparency around whether Australia would be asked to deploy the Virginia-class submarines obtained from the US through the AUKUS agreement.
'I think (it's been) 250 days since President Trump was elected, and the US is our closest security partner,' Mr Hastie said.
'I think he needs to go to Donald Trump and have an intimate conversation with him about AUKUS and many other issues, particularly given that it is such a close partnership we have with the United States.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
SBS Australia
5 hours ago
- SBS Australia
Treasurer Jim Chalmers plays down leaked advice to raise taxes and cut spending
Treasurer Jim Chalmers plays down leaked advice to raise taxes and cut spending Published 14 July 2025, 9:10 am Leaked documents show Treasury advised the government to raise taxes and cut spending after the election. It's prompted concerns the sustainability of the budget, and that an ambitious plan to build 1.2 million homes in five years could fail.
ABC News
6 hours ago
- ABC News
Liberal Party to launch legal action after losing Sydney seat of Bradfield at federal election
The NSW Liberal Party will challenge the federal election result in the Sydney seat of Bradfield after losing it to teal independent Nicolette Boel. In a statement on Monday night, Liberal Giselle Kapterian said the decision to go to the "umpire" was about ensuring the final outcome reflected the "true wishes of the voters". "While the second count resulted in a 26 vote lead for Ms Boele. Today's decision is taken to ensure the intentions of the voters of Bradfield are accurately reflected in the final count." She added that this step would "provide collective confidence" and "remove any remaining doubts created by the two conflicting counts". However, she also pointed out the move was not about casting doubt over the electoral system. "To be clear, there is no question regarding the integrity of our electoral system. "In fact, this process has only served to reaffirm my faith in Australia's democratic institution. "I am grateful for the AEC's [Australian Electoral Commission] tireless work in delivering the two very close counts." Ms Boele was declared the winner on June 4, more than a month after voters went to the polls. The challenge will be taken to the Court of Disputed Returns. The Chief Justice of the High Court would nominate a High Court or Federal Court judge to sit as the Court of Disputed Returns. After weeks of uncertainty, Ms Boele beat Ms Kapterian by just 26 votes, with each woman leading in the electorate at different points. Ms Kapterian released a statement a short time after her opponent declared victory and promised to "carefully review the two counts", leaving the door open for a legal challenge. The historically blue-ribbon seat was initially called for Ms Kapterian on May 12 by the ABC's chief election analyst Antony Green, when she was ahead by about 200 votes. But as the count continued, the number of votes between the pair shrank, and a week later Ms Boele took the lead as the provisional winner. Ms Boele remained ahead by 40 votes after the unofficial distribution of preferences, however as the counting entered its final stages, Ms Kapterien pulled ahead once more by eight ballots. Under the Australian Electoral Commission's policy, a recount was ordered, as is the case in all contests won by fewer than 100 votes. In an interview with ABC's Afternoon Briefing in June, Ms Kapterian said she was not rushing into a legal contest. "It's the two different outcomes that we're having look at now, taking a moment to breathe, taking advice … to really understand where the numbers lie and what might lie ahead," Ms Kapterian said.
ABC News
6 hours ago
- ABC News
The government responds to antisemitism report
The Federal Government is still considering its response to the plan by Antisemitism Envoy Jillian Segal to combat hatred against Jewish people. Tony Burke is the Minister for Home Affairs and he speaks to Sarah Ferguson.
