Inside Labor's defence spending fight
Defence Minister Richard Marles is weighing a restructure of the sprawling defence bureaucracy, with expectations some senior officials will be moved on and a troublesome procurement process overhauled.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
37 minutes ago
- Perth Now
‘For ourselves': Albo's pointed jab at US
Anthony Albanese will pay homage to former Labor prime minister John Curtin as not just the leader who founded Australia's alliance with the US, but one who stood up against allied super powers, in pointed comments amid concerns over Australia's relationship with America. Mr Curtin's leadership, which lasted between 1941 to 1945, lasted during the Pacific War and the bombing of Darwin and Broome by the Japanese. He died while in office, before peace was declared. In a speech to mark the 80th anniversary of Mr Curtin's death on Saturday, the Prime Minister will credit the Labor figure with forging Australia's long-held alliance with the United States. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will pay tribute to John Curtin on the 80th anniversary of his death on Saturday. Jane Dempster/Pool/NewsWire Credit: News Corp Australia John Curtin served as prime minister from 1941 to 1945. National Library of Australia Credit: Supplied However Mr Albanese will also note Mr Curtin's decision to stand up to the US and the United Kingdom, then led by Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill his decision not to send Australian troops to then Burma, now Myanmar, in what would have been days before it fell to the Japanese. 'Hundreds if not thousands of Australians would have been killed, or taken prisoner. It would have been a disaster every bit as crushing to national morale as the fall of Singapore,' Mr Albanese is expected to tell attendees at Sydney's John Curtin Research Centre. Mr Albanese will note that while the Australian-US alliance 'ought to be remembered as a product of Curtin's leadership in defence and foreign policy, not the extent of it'. Instead, he will say that Mr Curtin had the 'confidence and determination to think and act for ourselves'. 'Because Curtin's famous statement that Australia 'looked to America' was much more than the idea of trading one strategic guarantor for another. Or swapping an alliance with the old world for one with the new,' he will say. 'It was a recognition that Australia's fate would be decided in our region. It followed the decision Curtin had made in 1941 that Australia would issue its own declaration of war with Japan. 'Speaking for ourselves, as a sovereign nation.' Anthony Albanese credited Mr Curtin for not only cementing the Australia-US alliance but also for speaking up for Australia as a 'sovereign nation'. Max Mason-Hubers/ Pool/ NewsWire Credit: News Corp Australia His remarks come as the Albanese government is currently under pressure by the Trump administration to amp up defence spending to 3.5 per cent, comes amid concerns of fragile global stability and claims from US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth that China would imminently invade Beijing. Mr Albanese has frequently rejected US pressure to amp up defence spending, stating that investment will be calculated according to Australia's needs. Labor is also under pressure to negotiate a tariff carveout, however on Friday he said he believed the levy applied to non steel and aluminium imports would remain at 10 per cent after Donald Trump's July 9 deadline. Mr Albanese is also set to champion to 'rights and the role of middle powers and smaller nations' and speak to the importance of collective responsibility in the Indo-Pacific, despite fears of China's increasing aggression in the area. Ensuring that the 'sovereignty of every nation is respected and the dignity of every individual is upheld' is another priority. He will say his government will continue to rebuild Australia 'standing as a leader and partner in the Pacific,' deepen economic engagement in South East Asia, while 'patiently and deliberately working to stabilise our relationship with China'.
West Australian
39 minutes ago
- West Australian
Albanese to use a former PM John Curtin memorial speech to define Australia's sovereignty in US-Alliance
Anthony Albanese is expected to use a speech in Sydney on Saturday to draw parallels between Australia's foreign policy under his government with that of war-time PM John Curtin. Marking the 80th anniversary of the Labor leader's death, Mr Albanese will tell an address at the John Curtin Research Centre that Australia will forge its own path as a middle power in the region — just as Curtin had at the height of World War II. His speech is expected to draw on Curtin's time in office — which he will describe as 'dark days of conflict' during which the wartime PM shifted Australia's reliance on Britain to the US — forming the US Alliance. There are calls for the PM to shore up Australia's US relationship, after the Pentagon launched an AUKUS review and Donald Trump cancelled the pair's planned meeting. Mr Albanese will describe Australia's 14th prime minister, the only one born in WA, as a 'pillar of our foreign policy'. 'John Curtin is rightly honoured as the founder of Australia's alliance with the United States,' he said, in a draft version of the speech seen by The West Australian. 'Our most important defence and security partnership. And a relationship that commands bipartisan support, respect and affection in both our nations. 'Yet our Alliance with the US ought to be remembered as a product of Curtin's leadership in defence and foreign policy, not the extent of it.' In the face of global leaders, Curtin had defied requests for soldiers to travel to Burma as the Japanese military then swept South-East Asia. 'And he was locked in a battle of wills with the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill as well as the President of the United States, Franklin Roosevelt. 'Churchill wanted them in Burma – and Roosevelt backed him. 'Curtin wanted those troops for the defence of Australia. 'That's what Curtin recognised – this was a Pacific war. It was its own conflict which demanded its own strategy.' Spruiking Australia's determination to 'think and act for ourselves' he will argue the nation doesn't 'seek our inspiration overseas' but rather 'we find it right here in our people'. He's expected to outline Australia's ambitions amid an evolving environment in the Indo-Pacific, including strengthening ties with neighbouring nations and deepening economic connections. 'That's the approach our Government has taken, from day one. Rebuilding our standing as a leader and partner in the Pacific,' he will say, referring to security pacts with Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and India. 'Then – and now – we championed the rights and the role of middle powers and smaller nations.' He will also say Australia needs to 'patiently and deliberately' work to 'stabilise our relationship with China'. Mr Albanese will travel to China in August, following an invitation from President Xi Jinping before a string of other overseas trips across the Indo-Pacific this year — including Solomon Islands, Malaysia, and South Korea.
Courier-Mail
an hour ago
- Courier-Mail
‘Insane': Joe Rogan turns on Donald Trump over immigration raids
Don't miss out on the headlines from News. Followed categories will be added to My News. Joe Rogan says the Trump administration's immigration raids on workplaces are 'insane', declaring the federal government would be better off targeting 'cartel members,' 'gang members' and 'drug dealers.' The hugely popular podcaster also said during Wednesday's episode of the Joe Rogan Experience that he didn't agree with the administration's detention of a green card holder and a graduate student over criticism of Israel. Joe Rogan said the Trump administration's immigration raids on workplaces that have resulted in roundups of undocumented laborers are 'insane.' Picture: YouTube Rogan offered up his comments as the Trump administration resumed and intensified rounding up undocumented labourers, reversing a brief mid-June pause that had applied to sectors like agriculture, hospitality and food processing. Despite earlier assurances that these industries might receive temporary relief, ICE has carried out large-scale enforcement actions — including at meat packing plants and restaurants — detaining over 100,000 individuals in June. Business leaders have warned the raids will lead to severe labour shortages. 'It's insane,' Rogan said during a chat with tech entrepreneur Amjad Masad. 'We were told there would be no — well, there's two things that are insane. One is the targeting of migrant workers. Not cartel members, not gang members, not drug dealers. Just construction workers. Showing up in construction sites, raiding them. Gardeners. Like, really?' 100 undocumented immigrants arrested on Florida construction site. Picture: X/HSI Tampa National Guard soldiers stand guard at a federal building in Los Angeles as protesters held a "No Kings Day" demonstration, which has been the focus of protests against Trump's immigration raids. Picture: AFP Masad responded: 'Yeah, I don't know what you think of the new administration. Certainly, there are things that I like about it, some of their pro-tech posture and things like that. But what's happening now is — it's kind of disappointing.' Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin refuted their assertions. 'The official data tells the real story: an overwhelming majority of ICE arrests were criminal illegal aliens with criminal convictions or pending criminal charges. Further, many illegal aliens categorised as 'non-criminals' are actually terrorists, human rights abusers, gang members and worse — they just don't have a rap sheet in the US. This deceptive 'non-criminal' categorisation is devoid of reality and misleads the American public. Police deploy tear gas while clearing a street in front of City Hall. Picture: AFP 'Secretary (Kristi) Noem has unleashed the U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) to target the worst of the worst — including gang members, murderers, and rapists. We are putting the American people first by removing illegal aliens who pose a threat to our communities.' Masad, a Jordanian-born software engineer and CEO of coding platform Replit, went on to slam immigration enforcement actions on college campuses against anti-Israel protesters. 'Did you see this video of this Turkish student at Tufts University that wrote an essay and then there's video of like, ICE agents, like –' Rogan interjected, 'Is that the woman?' Masad replied, 'Yeah, yeah.' Rogan asked, 'Yeah. What was her essay about? It was just critical of Israel, right?' 'Just critical of Israel, yeah,' Masad confirmed. Rogan responded, 'And that's enough to get you kicked out of the country.' Rumeysa Öztürk, a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University, was detained by federal officials in Massachusetts in March and held in a Louisiana facility for weeks after the Department of Homeland Security claimed she supported Hamas in an op-ed for the campus newspaper. Rogan was conversing with tech entrepreneur Amjad Masad. Picture: YouTube In May, a federal judge blocked her deportation, calling the detention baseless. She was released and allowed to return to Tufts while her deportation case proceeds in the courts. Rogan also referenced the case of Mahmoud Khalil, the Syrian-born Palestinian and US permanent resident and graduate student at Columbia University. Khalil, who was a leader of pro-Palestinian protests on Columbia's campus, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in March after the Trump administration cited alleged false information on his green card application. The administration, which alleged that Khalil's campus activities posed a threat to US foreign policy, also invoked a rarely used immigration law to cite as the basis for his deportation. Khalil was held for more than 100 days at a Louisiana detention facility before he was released on June 20. A White House rep defended the administration's actions pertaining to Khalil and Ozturk. 'Receiving a visa to study in the United States is a privilege not a right. The Trump administration is committed to restoring the rule of law and common sense to our immigration system, and will continue to fight to remove dangerous aliens who pose a risk to American security and interests, and have no right to be in this country,' White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told The Post. A law enforcement officer fires a less-lethal projectile during a protest in Los Angeles. Picture: AFP Rogan, who commands an audience of roughly 10 million listeners — most of whom are young men — publicly endorsed Trump for president on the eve of the 2024 election, calling Elon Musk's case for Trump 'the most persuasive argument' and stating, 'I concur with him at every turn.' Though once a vocal critic of Trump, Rogan's support marked a major shift that the Trump campaign touted as a significant win with young male voters. Last month, Rogan advocated for a path to citizenship for undocumented migrants who live and work in the US without breaking the law. 'Yeah maybe you shouldn't have snuck in,' Rogan said at the time. 'But you did it, and you're not breaking any laws and you're a hardworking person. Those people need a path to citizenship, man. Because if you don't, then they're just preyed upon.' This story first appeared in the New York Post and was republished with permission. Originally published as 'Insane': Joe Rogan turns on Donald Trump over immigration raids
