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.
Opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie labelled the flotilla’s behaviour “provocative”,asking:“What is the government doing about these warships?”
Three Chinese military ships are moving steadily down the east coast of Australia,the furthest they have gone in the waters without being on an official visit.