US presses Australia, Japan over role in any Taiwan conflict, FT says
Australia prioritises its sovereignty and 'we don't discuss hypotheticals', Conroy said in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
'The decision to commit Australian troops to a conflict will be made by the government of the day, not in advance but by the government of the day,' he said.
The Financial Times reported on Saturday that Elbridge Colby, the US under-secretary of defence for policy, has been pressing Australian and Japanese officials on what they would do in a Taiwan conflict, although the US does not offer a blank cheque guarantee to defend Taiwan.
Colby posted on X that the Department of Defense is implementing President Donald Trump's 'America First' agenda of restoring deterrence, which includes 'urging allies to step up their defense spending and other efforts related to our collective defense'.
China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own and has not ruled out the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control. Taiwan President Lai Ching-te rejects China's sovereignty claims, saying only Taiwan's people can decide their future.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, speaking in Shanghai at the start of a six-day visit to China that is likely to focus on security and trade, said Canberra did not want any change to the status quo on Taiwan.
Conroy said Australia was concerned about China's military buildup of nuclear and conventional forces, and wants a balanced Indo-Pacific region where no country dominates. He said China was seeking a military base in the Pacific, which was not in Australia's interest.
Talisman Sabre, Australia's largest war-fighting exercise with the United States, opened on Sunday on Sydney Harbour and will involve 40,000 troops from 19 countries, including Japan, South Korea, India, Britain, France and Canada.
Conroy said China's navy might be watching the exercise to collect information, as it had done in the past.
The war games will span thousands of kilometres from Australia's Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island to the Coral Sea on Australia's east coast, in a rehearsal of joint war fighting, said Vice Admiral Justin Jones, chief of joint operations for the Australian Defence Force.
The air, sea, land and space exercises over two weeks will 'test our ability to move our forces into the north of Australia and operate from Australia', Jones told reporters.
'I will leave it to China to interpret what 19 friends, allies and partners wanting to operate together in the region means to them. But for me... it is nations that are in search of a common aspiration for peace, stability, a free and open Indo-Pacific,' he said.
US Army Lieutenant General Joel Vowell, deputy commanding general for the Pacific, said Talisman Sabre would improve the readiness of militaries to respond together and was 'a deterrent mechanism because our ultimate goal is no war'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Recorder
3 minutes ago
- Business Recorder
Australia, NZ dollars edge ahead, ponder RBNZ policy risks
SYDNEY: The Australian and New Zealand dollars inched higher in range-bound trade on Monday with markets already fully priced for a cut in kiwi interest rates this week, but less sure about the prospect of yet more easing after ward. Swaps imply a near 100% chance the Reserve Bank of New Zealand will cut its official cash rate a quarter point to 3.00% on Wednesday, bringing its easing cycle so far to a whopping 250 basis points. Investors are also wagering there might be one further cut to 2.75% by early next year, so all eyes will be on the central bank's projected path for the OCR. 'Monetary policy settings now near neutral, and the full benefit of prior rate cuts are still to be felt as more mortgages reset at lower rates,' said Andrew Ticehurst, an economist at Nomura. 'Yet weaker growth and significant spare capacity is likely to provide comfort that underlying inflation pressures should remain modest,' he added. 'Our base case has been one in which the August easing is the final of the cycle, but we do flag risk that we could need to add an additional 50bp of easing to our profile.' Debt markets are priced for a dovish outlook given two-year swap rates are near their lowest since early 2022, making them vulnerable should the RBNZ signal a high bar to further easing. A hawkish shift would, however, help the kiwi which lost 0.5% last week. It was trading a fraction firmer at $0.5934 , and has support layered at $0.5910 and $0.5857. Resistance is up around $0.5996. The Aussie added 0.1% to $0.6515, after slipping 0.3% last week. Support stands at $0.6483, with resistance at $0.6568. Investors are wagering the Reserve Bank of Australia will ultimately cut another 50 basis points from its 3.60% cash rate, though a move is not expected until November. Domestic data is thin on the ground this week with the next major release being monthly consumer prices for July on August 26, followed by gross domestic product for the second quarter a week later.
Business Recorder
3 minutes ago
- Business Recorder
Australian shares notch fresh high, NAB rises over 2%
Australian shares inched higher to a record level on Monday, largely driven by a more than 2% rise in National Australia Bank on strong earnings growth, although losses in energy and mining stocks limited the gains. The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.1% to 8,943.90 by 0051 GMT, after last week's 1.5% gain. Investor appetite for risk assets has improved after the central bank's interest rate cut last week and a largely dovish outlook on monetary policy. A slew of strong corporate earnings, led by top banks, have aided inflows into equities recently. Banks rose 0.3%, with National Australia Bank up 2.2% after the country's top business lender reported a slight increase in third-quarter cash earnings, supported by improved margins and growth in business and home lending. Healthcare stocks advanced 0.7%, with CSL leading the charge with a rise of 0.7%. Capping the gains on the benchmark index, energy stocks fell 0.8% as oil prices weakened on easing concerns about a disruption in Russian supply. Shares of Woodside Energy and Santos fell 0.3% and 0.9%, respectively. Miners slipped 0.3% due to softer iron ore prices amid weak property demand and low outdoor construction activity in key steel consumer China. Rio Tinto and BHP declined 0.8% and 0.3%, respectively. Market participants are now awaiting earnings of global miner BHP and energy giant Woodside, due on Tuesday. In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.2% to 12,920.99. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand is set to announce its cash rate decision on Wednesday. Markets are expecting a 25-basis point cut to 3%.
Business Recorder
3 minutes ago
- Business Recorder
Australia's NAB sees $85 million cost increase to fix staff underpay issue
National Australia Bank warned its full-year expenses would be up to A$130 million ($84.7 million) higher after it discovered it had underpaid some of its staff, as it reported a slight increase in third-quarter earnings. NAB, Australia's top business lender, said a review of its payroll systems and remediation was ongoing and the final costs that could be incurred were uncertain. The A$130 million set aside would increase the bank's full-year operating expenses by about 4.5%, NAB said. NAB said the issues were discovered during a payroll review that began in 2019 and it had started a broader review into examining payroll-related benefits given to staff under current and certain historical agreements. National Australia Bank axes 6,000 jobs as annual profit jumps NAB did not say how many staff were affected or the value of the discrepancies discovered. 'Paying our colleagues correctly is an absolute priority,' said Sarah White, NAB's group executive people and culture. NAB Chief Executive Andrew Irvine said the issue was 'disappointing and must be fixed.' NAB said it was engaging with Finance Sector Union and the Fair Work Ombudsman while the issue was investigated. 'The FSU will meet with NAB again later this month to demand guarantees that workers will never again be ripped off on this scale,' said Wendy Streets, FSU national president. The increased full-year expenses are unlikely to concern investors, analysts said, as NAB's third-quarter costs of A$2.48 billion were below expectations. 'The payroll remediation disclosure will likely be treated as a one-off by the market, and in any event underlying costs looked well-managed,' said Thomas Strong, Citigroup's banking analyst. The bank reported A$1.77 billion ($1.15 billion) cash earnings for the three months ended June 30, compared with A$1.75 billion a year ago. The Reserve Bank of Australia has cut interest rates by 75 basis points so far this year and signalled further easing ahead. The lower interest rate environment has aided higher lending volumes and improved asset quality. NAB said business lending grew 4% and Australian home lending grew 2% during the quarter compared with the quarterly average of the first half. Its net interest margin - a closely watched measure of bank performance which compares interest payments received on loans minus interest paid out to deposit holders - increased by 8 basis points. NAB shares rose by as much as 2.7% to A$40.24, the highest level in three weeks, as the ASX200 was flat. The bank's growing net interest margins and lower short-term funding costs were positive for NAB. Excluding Markets and Treasury, NIM rose 4 basis points, mainly due to higher earnings on replicating portfolios and lower short-term funding costs. NAB said the ratio of default but not impaired assets to gross loans rose 2 basis points, as Australian mortgage book arrears flattened and ratio trends in the Business and Private Banking segment showed early signs of stabilising. The lender also booked a credit impairment charge of A$254 million in the quarter, mainly related to business lending in Australia and New Zealand and unsecured Australian retail portfolios.
