The recent decision of the Australian Government to reject, at least at this stage, the US request to send a warship to the Red Sea has been described in many quarters as a “seismic event”, but it should not be surprising.
Australia faces “an increasingly challenging strategic environment that creates a greater need for the deployment of military assets in our neighbourhood”, a senior government official said, adding:
“As a result, the Australian Defence Force will reduce our naval presence in the Middle East to allow more resources to be deployed to our region.”
This is not, however, Albanese’s “guerrilla warfare”. We must remember Linda Reynolds, the Morrison Government’s Defence Minister, announced a shift in Australia’s military priorities in October 2020.
Of course, this does not mean that the Coalition, had it still been in power, would have rejected this US request.
The new context, with the serious problems in international navigation caused by Yemeni Houthi rebel attacks on merchant ships in response to Israel’s war in Gaza, leads proponents of Australian participation in this international operation, to secure trade in the Red Sea, to describe it as “mandatory”.
However, there is bipartisan recognition that Australia needs to focus on the Indo-Pacific at a time when China is increasing its threats in the South and East China Seas.
On 1 July 2020, after years of focusing on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, then Prime Minister Morrison emphasised that our country was best placed to be present in the Indo-Pacific, which was fast becoming “the focus of the dominant global competition of our time”.
Let’s not forget the frequent minor incidents of “unprofessional” interactions between Australian ships and a Chinese ship such as the harassment of the HMAS Toowoomba, which was in Japan’s exclusive economic zone in November, by a Chinese destroyer.
Of course, Australia cannot afford to focus solely on its own neighbourhood and its armed forces must be ready to respond to any call around the world when the Government deems it to be in its national interest.
In addition to issues relating to the management of alliances, there are also questions about the readiness of the Australian military to combat attacks, particularly by drones.
The Government must be prepared to answer such questions immediately so as not to raise suspicions that its refusal is not a sign of “independent action” but of a lack of ability to cope with the military challenges of our time.
