Australian ships and aircraft are working with New Zealand’s military to monitor three Chinese warships which have sailed past Sydney towards the Tasmanian Sea. It comes as Australia begins negotiations with Papua New Guinea on a landmark new defence treaty.
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00:00A strategic embrace.
00:07Australia and PNG already have a security pact.
00:09Now both countries want to go further and sign a binding treaty.
00:14The most significant defence agreement between our two countries since Papua New Guinea independence.
00:22Australia believes it will bolster PNG's security and smooth the way for its citizens to serve
00:28in Australia's army down the track, as well as making it much harder for China to strike
00:33its own security agreements with the Pacific nation.
00:38We have consciously made a decision to choose who should be our friends as far as security
00:43is concerned.
00:44And today another reminder of how Beijing's military might is growing.
00:49Defence confirming that three Chinese warships filmed here in the Philippines and spotted
00:55north of Australia last week have now made their way down Australia's east coast, less
01:00than 300 kilometres from Sydney.
01:03They're entitled to be where they are.
01:06Australia's also entitled to be prudent.
01:08Australia and New Zealand sending planes and naval vessels to monitor them, but Beijing
01:13hasn't explained what the ships are doing or where they're going next.
01:18It's certainly not something that we would expect from China previously.
01:22The government is keen to stress publicly that this naval task group hasn't broken international
01:28law and isn't intruding into Australian waters.
01:31But privately, officials say China might be keen to demonstrate the growing reach of its
01:36rapidly expanding navy, which now has the ability to project force deep into our region.
01:43It's another reminder of how Australia's strategic circumstances are rapidly changing and why
01:49it wants to strike more deals with countries like PNG and throughout the Pacific.