Peter Dutton has warned "the only way that you can preserve peace is to prepare for war" as concerns grow over China's actions in the region.
Digital Reporter
April 25, 2022 - 10:50AM
Defence Minister Peter Dutton has warned Australians to prepare for war as he said the nation needed to stare down acts of aggression.
Mr Dutton, speaking on Anzac Day, said Australia was determined to preserve peace in the country and region, adding the nation had to stand strong and not cower in the face of military threats.
"The only way that you can preserve peace is to prepare for war and to be strong as a country, not to cower, not to be on bended knee and be weak, that's the reality," he told Channel Nine's Today Show.
"We are a country with a proud heritage that we commemorate today, the most important day on our calendar and we're determined to make sure that we can have peace in our country.
"So you invest into the men and women of the Australian Defence Force, you give them the capabilities, the arrangement that we've entered into with AUKUS... now with Japan and India, these are all countries want peace and the preservation of that peace in our region.
"And we'll work shoulder-to-shoulder with them to make sure that's achieved. Curling up in a ball, pretending that nothing is happening, saying nothing, that is not going to be in our long-term interests and we should be very honest about that."
Prime Minister Scott Morrison used a speech at the Anzac Day dawn service in Darwin to highlight how coercion was troubling the region as he said an "arc of autocracy" was challenging the rules-based order.
"Our world is changing. War does stalk Europe again. Coercion troubles our region once more. An arc of autocracy is challenging the rules-based order our grandparents had secured," Mr Morrison said.
"And democratic, free peoples are standing together again. In facing this world, we must remember again. If only then, it is only then, that we will truly appreciate what these times require of us all."
Mr Dutton said Mr Morrison's remarks were reflective of the "reality of our time" as fears over China's aggression grows, as he also pointed to Russia's actions in Ukraine.
"We have to have a proper understanding of it. We have to have a conversation and really be frank about the intelligence and the advice that we're receiving and reading," the Defence Minister said.
"We have to be realistic that people like Hitler and others aren't just a figment of our imagination or that they're consigned to history. We have in President Putin at the moment, somebody who's willing to kill women and children.
"That's happening in the year 2022 and I think Europe's been startled by what's happened there. It's a replay in part of what's happened in the 1930s. You don't need to overegg it.
"The Chinese, through their actions, through their words, on a very deliberate course at the moment and we have to stand up with countries to stare down any act of aggression to make sure that we can keep peace in our region and for our country."
Concerns over China have grown since the country signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands, with fears it could lead Beijing to establish a military base on the island.
"This is a shared concern, not just Australia, this is Australia with regional governments, particularly in places like Fiji and Papua New Guinea, Samoa and so on," Mr Morrison told reporters in Alice Springs on Sunday.
"Working together with our partners in New Zealand and, of course, the United States, I share the same red line that the US has when it comes to these issues and we're very aware of that.
"And actions that could be needed, working together with our partners to ensure regional security, not just for Australia but for the whole region, working together to ensure that we don't have any negative influences here in our part of the world."
Mr Morrison later added: "Prime Minister Sogavare has been very clear to me, saying there will be no such bases. So that is what he has said. And so he clearly shares our red line".
https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/defence-and-foreign-affairs/prepare-for-war-peter-dutton-issues-ominous-warning-as-he-says-china-is-on-a-very-deliberate-course-at-the-moment/news-story/6807bf2105118d8a31da4a663292ee38
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