After the Coalition called on Jakarta to curtail its defence ties with Moscow,one frontbencher claimed Russia and China didn’t want Peter Dutton as PM.
While the government has sought another lift to the cap on how much rubbish can be burned each year,proposed waste-to-energy projects are meeting community backlash and regulatory barriers.
The treasurer’s National Press Club speech was a final chance for a bit of lobbying action before the election campaign kicks off.
Richard Marles has settled a lawsuit with his former chief of staff Jo Tarnawsky on the cusp of a federal election campaign.
The Trump administration has called on Australia to lift defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP,but both major parties see this as too ambitious.
Opposition finance spokeswoman Jane Hume said it was important to meet “the expectations of our strategic partners”,flagging a major rise in defence spending if Peter Dutton wins power.
Military experts said the presence of a Chinese flotilla had reinforced the vulnerabilities of Australia’s “old and small” fleet of warships.
The foreign minister accused the Coalition of seeking political advantage from ships’ exercises in the Tasman with inflammatory rhetoric on China.
The second live-fire exercise comes just hours after Defence Minister Richard Marles called on China to explain its failure to provide sufficient notice on the first drill on Friday.
The Australian government is demanding answers from Beijing after commercial flights had to divert over the Tasman Sea after they received last-minute alert of Chinese warship exercises.