Former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro is expected to appear at the parliamentary inquiry on Monday to answer questions about his appointment to a US trade job. This blog is now closed
Hastie ‘open-minded’ about visiting Taiwan
Hastie is asked if Australia could be doing more to help Taiwan.
We should be talking with everyone, we should be maintaining good relationships with everyone, and that’s true of Taiwan, as it is of China.
I’m open-minded to going there. I have a very full dance card... with a young family and enough travel as it is, but certainly I’m on the record that I would like to visit Taiwan at some point.
They have invited me... I will wait and see.
The advice I received from Defence as assistant minister for defence was that we were going to cover that gap with the life of type extension for the Collins class. They are still a regionally superior submarine.
The question is how quickly can we deliver a nuclear submarine or several of those boats to the Royal Australian Navy. That’s why I’ve said again, several times over the last month that Richard Marles as defence minister needs to be focused on delivering those submarines as quickly as possible. Every single day he should be thinking about it. When he wakes up he should be thinking about submarines. When he goes to bed, when he is asleep, he should be dreaming about submarines. We need political focus on delivering these submarines for our country.
Continue reading...