Scott Morrison has revealed he was placed on medication to cope with “debilitating and agonising” anxiety during his tumultuous prime ministership as he navigated the Covid pandemic and Australia’s showdown with China. Speaking to The Australian ahead of the release of his new book, Plans for Your Good: A PrimeContinue Reading
Jack Fitzgibbon’s sister has taken to Instagram to share an emotional tribute to her brother, describing him as her “guardian angel” who “always” had her back. Lance Corporal Fitzgibbon, the 33-year-old son of former federal MP Joel Fitzgibbon, was injured during a parachute training exercise at the RAAF Richmond baseContinue Reading
Australia’s defence force is struggling to recruit new staff, while the number of top brass is surging, senate estimates have revealed. In a lengthy hearing on Wednesday, chief of defence force Angus Campbell conceded that the entire defence force was more than 4300 personnel – or seven per cent –Continue Reading
The Coalition and Greens are demanding answers after it was revealed defence personnel on-board the now-defunct Taipan helicopter fleet were flying with equipment deemed to carry an “increased risk” in certain situations by internal testing. Pilots on the military aircraft were using a helmet-mounted display system that one test hadContinue Reading
The Prime Minister has denied his government is dragging its feet on sending more military personnel to assist with escalating tensions in the Red Sea, after a US cargo ship in the region was struck by Yemen-based Houthi rebels. In December, Australia rejected a US Navy request for support inContinue Reading
Thousands of people have turned out for the “Set Them Free” rally in Sydney, where a Jewish-Australian leader has warned unless anti-Semitism was confronted by all, “it will devour once more”. Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, told the 5000-strong crowd gathered at Moore ParkContinue Reading
Pro-Palestine protests in Melbourne on Friday night were a display of “anti-Semitic, thuggish behaviour” and an attempt to assert primacy over Jewish Australians, the Coalition has claimed. The opposition’s defence spokesman Andrew Hastie made the claims on Sunday morning, as Defence Minister Richard Marles called for “careful language”. Hundreds ofContinue Reading
Veteran and senator Jacqui Lambie has backed calls from the federal opposition to allow foreigners to join the Australian Defence Force. The idea, put forward by the opposition’s Defence spokesman and former SAS commander Andrew Hastie, would allow Pacific Islanders to enlist in the ADF, in turn giving them anContinue Reading
Labor frontbenchers have rejected suggestions the government deliberately timed the release of a landmark defence review to link it to Anzac Day. Some Coalition MPs have criticised the government’s decision to release a declassified version of the Defence Strategic Review on the eve of the national day of commemoration forContinue Reading
Mark McGowan has been accused of being “out of his intellectual depth” after he was captured smack-talking a federal Liberal MP while in China. On the first day of his historic trade mission in Beijing, a microphone inadvertently picked up the Western Australian Premier’s disparaging comments about federal opposition defenceContinue Reading