Former prime minister Scott Morrison has warned Australia cannot “resist” an attack from China on its own as he argues boosting defence and strategic partnerships “changes the calculus” for conflict.
In a stark warning on Australia’s defence capabilities, Mr Morrison said no country could counter a Chinese attack amid a ratcheting up of Beijing’s aggression in the Indo-Pacific.
“We’re a country of just over 25 million people, their defence budget is multiple, multiple, multiple times that of Australia’s. Mr Morrison said the defence budget needs to amount to 2.5 per cent of GDP which would represent a sizeable increase after the Albanese government invested $48.7 billion in the October budget or just shy of 2 per cent of Australia’s GDP.
“If we think that just doing that would actually protect Australia without what is arguably the even more urgent task is to ensure that those interlocking alliances and partnerships and alignments are in place.In the Sky News Australia special investigation ‘Are We Ready for War?’ military, strategic and diplomatic experts from the US, Australia and Taiwan warned that a Chinese cross-strait invasion was increasingly likely.
The former prime minister also declared China was chasing “hegemony” in the Indo-Pacific and argued the West did not resist Beijing’s encroachment in the region.
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Former Labor MP, Miss Australia accused of emotional abuse of partnerA former Tasmanian government MP and Miss Australia is alleged to have punched her partner in the face, made throat-slitting gestures, and verbally abused him multiple times over a decade, according to court documents.
Read more »
HSBC banks on Australia as China relations thawHSBC Australia’s boss Tony Shaw says the global strategy is paying dividends, again.
Read more »
Morrison rejects Perrottet’s vaccine mandate claimsFormer prime minister Scott Morrison has rubbished NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet’s claims that he cannot remove remaining vaccine mandates being enforced on the state’s critical public servants.
Read more »
Former detainee and advocate Behrouz Boochani brings new life to an ancient playThe producers of a new adaptation of the Greek tragedy Women of Troy say the thousands-of-years-old play could have been written for a contemporary audience.
Read more »
Former Fairfax chief’s cotton farm tipped to sell for more than $40mBest remembered as the successful CEO of Fairfax for most of the 1980s, Greg Gardiner also developed one of the finest cotton farms on the Liverpool Plains.
Read more »