ADF chief says Australia could deploy warship to Strait of Hormuz if requested
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
The news: Australian Defence Force chief Admiral David Johnston said that the government could deploy a warship to the Strait of Hormuz if called upon, but questioned whether the country’s priorities lay in maintaining a presence in the Indo-Pacific.
The context: Speaking to reporters in Canberra on Thursday, Johnston said: “I am very confident we could deploy a ship into that environment if the government was to make a decision to do so.”
“I have no hesitation in our ability to work in a Strait of Hormuz type role…But perhaps what is an at least as important question is: ‘Where do our priorities lie?’ ” Johnston asked.
Johnston noted that the US has moved “enormous military capacity” into the Middle East region, which includes a lot of capacity out of the Info-Pacific. “This is an important time for us to be present in the Indo-Pacific to maintain that regional environment,” he said.
The comments come after the Albanese government called on Israel to stop its strikes on Lebanon, arguing that the two-week ceasefire agreed between the US, Israel and Iran should apply to Israel’s operations in Lebanon.
Speaking from Singapore where he is scheduled to attend talks to bolster cooperation on energy supplies, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia should expect a long recovery from the Middle East conflict “even if the ceasefire holds.”
“We want to see peace in the Middle East, and we want to see a resumption of normal economic activity. But even if that were to occur then there would still be a difficult period ahead with pressure on supply because you can’t just turn back the tap immediately of security,” Albanese said.
