Latest news with #OperationTalismanSabre
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Jim Jefferies slams PM Anthony Albanese over nephew's death in army helicopter crash: 'He can go eff himself'
Jim Jefferies has opened up about his ongoing heartbreak after his 24-year-old nephew Max Nugent died in a tragic Queensland army helicopter crash in 2023. The Australian comedian, 48, appeared on KIIS FM's Kyle & Jackie O Show on Friday morning and shared his frustration at not getting any closure after more than two years. On Thursday, the Commonwealth's lawyers rejected Comcare's recommendation to pursue the Australian Defence Force over alleged workplace safety breaches, which led to the Taipan helicopter crashing on July 28, 2023, and the deaths of four people. 'When the families found out yesterday that at the hearing it was said, "no one is at fault", that must have been hard to handle, right?' co-host Kyle Sandilands asked Jefferies. The comedian said the decision was a severe blow to his entire family: 'We have been going to the hearings for over two years.' From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. 'Now they have said there are no claims, the families are getting nothing, there is no fault,' he added. 'Major Ian Wilson said in the hearing that the helmets they were wearing were faulty under bad conditions and it was very rainy that night.' Jefferies added he felt the Australian government was not doing enough to support the bereaved families who lost a loved one in this tragic accident. 'The families deserve a day in court. We have been going to the hearings and just hearing drivel all the time. The government said our families would get justice. 'Well, [Prime Minister] Albanese can go eff himself, this isn't justice, this isn't even an attempt of letting us see if we could get justice! 'The Commonwealth DPP [Director of Public Prosecutions] have been disgusting, it was proven the pilots had fatigue and shouldn't have been up there, under the guidelines of the military. What a nightmare!' 'Even if it wasn't technical, there were some managerial problems there or what have you. 'You can have people laying wreaths on Anzac Day and saying they shall not be forgotten, and we support the troops. On Thursday, the Commonwealth's lawyers rejected Comcare's recommendation to pursue the Australian Defence Force over alleged workplace safety breaches which led to the deaths of four people. The comedian said the decision was a blow to his entire family 'But at the end of the day, you're doing nothing. That's all just lip service. They have left them with very little options.' The accident occurred in July 2023, when an Australian Army chopper was conducting a joint military exercise as part of Operation Talisman Sabre and crashed in the waters off the Whitsunday Islands at about 10.30pm. Captain Daniel Lyon, Lieutenant Maxwell Nugent, Warrant Officer Class Two Joseph Laycock, and Corporal Alexander Naggs were named by the Chief of Army, Lieutenant General Simon Stuart, as the four deceased. They were all members of the army's 6th Aviation Richmond Unit based at the Holsworthy Army Barracks in Sydney. Lieutenant Nugent was the son of senior NSW Police Force officer Daniel Nugent, who is the brother of Aussie comedian Geoff Nugent – better known by his stage name Jim Jefferies. Jefferies paid tribute to his beloved nephew on social media shortly after his passing. 'My nephew Lieutenant Max Nugent died in a tragic helicopter accident that included three other soldiers: Captain Daniel Lyon, Warrant Officer Class Two Joseph Laycock, and Corporal Alexander Naggs,' he wrote. 'My heart goes out to these three families, knowing the pain they are feeling and that their lives will never be the same. 'I remember the day Max was born. He was my brother and sister-in-law's first child, and the first grandchild on both sides of his family. 'He couldn't have been more loved and welcomed into this world. We had high hopes for Max and he didn't disappoint.' The comedian said it was a 'pleasure' to watch him grow up to become someone he admired. 'He's someone I always admired, and I was so proud to call him my nephew. I still am,' he wrote.
ABC News
22-07-2025
- ABC News
The Japanese Ground Self-Defence Force launched a missile off the coast of Jervis Bay as part of Operation Talisman Sabre.
The Japanese Ground Self-Defence Force fire a surface-to-surface missile from the Beecroft Peninsula in Jervis Bay as part of Operation Talisman Sabre.
Sky News AU
19-07-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Australia needs the United States for defence, but the US needs Australia too: Albanese government
The trip began with US defence official Elbridge Colby saying that a condition of the AUKUS pact should be that Australia agrees to join the US in any China Taiwan conflict. The Financial Times reported Mr Colby pressed both Australia and Japan to say what role they would play if the US and China went to war over Taiwan. The Albanese government has disregarded these kinds of statements, figuring Mr Colby has about as much status as Australia's Assistant Defence Minister Peter Khalil. Sources indicate that while Australia needs the United States for defence security, the US also needs Australia. However, shadow defence minister Angus Taylor told Sky News that the government should align with the US on its Taiwan position. 'We have a commitment, as does the United States to the status quo in and around Taiwan,' Mr Taylor said on Friday. 'That means peace in the Taiwan Strait. That means a secure Taiwan.' While critics accused the prime minister of engaging in soft diplomacy and indulging in nostalgia during his China visit, Mr Albanese has insisted the trip was a success. In a statement concluding his diplomatic visit, Mr Albanese said the trip "marks another important step in the Australia-China relationship". "A stable and constructive relationship with China is in Australia's national interest," he said on Friday. "We will cooperate where we can, disagree where we must and engage in our national interest." The prime minister said he had made Australia's position on regional security 'very clear' to the Chinese leadership. He raised concerns over Chinese military activity near Australia, particularly naval operations in international waters that coincided with Operation Talisman Sabre. However, he avoided clashing with Chinese President Xi Jinping over the Darwin Port, China's support for Russia or military drills near Australian waters. 'President Xi Jinping said that China engaged in exercises just as Australia engages in exercises,' Mr Albanese said. 'I said what I said at the time … but that we were concerned about the notice and the ways that it happened, including the live-fire exercises.' In response, President Xi reportedly defended China's actions, saying Beijing had the right to conduct its own military drills. The opposition has attacked Mr Albanese's trip to China, characterising it as bloated and lacking hard outcomes. Shadow finance minister James Paterson told Sky News the visit was 'starting to look a little bit indulgent'. 'I do wonder whether… a visit to Chengdu to pose with some pandas… is strictly necessary as part of a six-day visit to China,' he said. 'There is so much else at stake in our other international relationships.' Former Home Affairs Secretary Mike Pezzullo echoed the criticism, suggesting the prime minister should have tried to meet with the US instead. 'I wouldn't have done the six days with the pandas and all the rest of it,' Mr Pezzullo told Sky News on Satruday. 'I would have had a shorter, sharper visit. The engagement with the President is important… but the rest of it was optional.' He also said he would have encouraged the prime minister to have 'blunt' discussions behind closed doors about Taiwan, stressing that any conflict would drag Australia in and have devastating consequences.
Sky News AU
16-07-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
Richard Marles swats away need for meeting with Pentagon policy chief, claims US-Australia relationship ‘strongest it's ever been'
Defence Minister Richard Marles has remained defiant, claiming the United States-Australia relationship is the 'strongest it's ever been' despite mounting pressure from the Pentagon to considerably boost defence spending. As Prime Minister Anthony Albanese tours China spruiking increased trade and collaboration on decarbonisation efforts, strategic analysts have argued the US-Australia alliance is in a critical condition, which the government vehemently denies. There is intensifying rancour in Washington over Australia's stagnant defence budget, with US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly demanding that Australia increase its spending to 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product 'as soon as possible'. Under Secretary of defence policy Eldridge Colby, who is currently leading the Trump administrations review into the AUKUS submarine agreement, also hit the alliance with another curveball after demanding for Australia to pre-commit US-supplied submarines in the event of a potential conflict between China and Taiwan. Mr Colby, who last year labelled himself an AUKUS 'agnostic', has recently met with a range of Asia-Pacific leaders including South Korea, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea with the Defence Minister questioned when he had last spoken to the top US strategist. In response to Sky News host Peter Stefanovic, Mr Marles dismissed why he would hold discussions with the Pentagon policy chief when he had been 'talking with Elbridge Colby's boss', that being Mr Hegseth. 'The answer to that question would be I've met with Pete Hegseth on a couple of occasions and spoken extensively with him about our relationship, including AUKUS,' Mr Marles said. Although Mr Colby is pioneering the US' review into the AUKUS pact, which has now passed its slated 30-day deadline, Mr Marles insisted that: 'I engage with my counterpart, and my counterpart is the Secretary of Defence.' Despite a raft of geostrategic experts sounding the alarm about the dire state of relations between the US and Australia, Mr Marles proceeded to boast that Australia's relationship with the 'United States the strongest it's ever been'. 'I was the first international counterpart that Pete Hegseth the Secretary of Defence met with, the first in the world and I met with him again in Singapore at the Shangri La dialogue,' Mr Marles said. When asked if Mr Colby was deliberately agitating the relationship, the Defence Minister resoundingly rejected the assertion and said there had been 'a lot speculated, but the fundamentals here are that we're talking about three countries who have worked very closely together'. Meanwhile, foreign editor at The Australian, Greg Sheridan, lashed the Prime Minister for opting to travel to China for six days at a time when Australia's relationship with the US is in a precarious position. 'I think what on earth was going through the Prime Minister's mind to agree to a six-day trip to China while Operation Talisman Sabre was being conducted in Australia when the Australia-US alliance is under more strain and under more neglect from both sides,' Mr Sheridan said. The foreign affairs expert also stated that Mr Colby had been 'marginally misinterpreted' on his submarine pre-commitment request, and that he was 'probably asking more for joint planning than a commitment to go to war'. 'All the other questions that Elbridge Colby is asking about AUKUS are valid questions and they're critical of his own nation, he's saying even the Americans are not building enough nuclear submarines," he said.
