Media
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July 7, 2026
TRENT NIKOLIC: Now, the news of this missile test from China, without being deliberately alarmist about it, a lot of your feedback is that it's got a lot of Australians concerned. It came as the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited Fiji to sign a new defence pact, which makes Fiji our fourth official ally. The test saw China fire a nuclear capable, and I think that language is important, nuclear capable intercontinental ballistic missile armed with a dummy warhead in the Pacific Ocean. It was launched from a submarine, and Taiwan says it travelled over the Philippines and landed near Nauru. James Paterson is our Shadow Minister for Defence, and he's on the line. Senator, thank you for your time. Good to be with you. Is this a cause for concern or is it not? How do you see it?
SENATOR JAMES PATERSON: Yes, I think it is a cause for concern in two respects. One, it is an indication of China's increasing capability in this area. This is a sophisticated missile, and they have a large and growing number of stocks of these, and they're capable of firing them from submarines. Secondly, I think it's an indication of China's intent. You don't practice firing a ballistic missile in the Pacific unless you think that at some point in the future you might need to do so for real in conflict. And certainly it's intended to send a very strong signal to us and other powers in the Pacific, including the Pacific island nations, that China is capable of this kind of display if it chooses.
NIKOLIC: Now, just so the listeners know exactly what we're talking about, Senator, the missile is said to have flown over the Philippines, landed near Taiwan, and potentially crossed the exclusive economic zones of Kiribati and the Federated States of Micronesia as well. So what do you make of that move from China? Is impacting those nations part of the plan, intimidating, impacting, depending on the language. Are they nations we're also looking to strengthen our relationships with?
PATERSON: Based on open source research, it sounds like it landed near Tuvalu, north of the Solomon Islands, and that target zone would have been chosen very carefully. And you're right, according to those reports, it went over the Philippines, a very important US ally, and an area where the United States is increasingly deepening its military cooperation as part of its attempt to deter China from taking military action against Taiwan. Now all of this must be seen in that light. This is a hotly contested region. China has expansionist ambitions. It has said publicly that it wants to take Taiwan within the People's Republic of China, and it's willing to do so by force if necessary, and they are demonstrating the kind of capabilities they would need to fight a war in the Pacific with the United States or anyone else who might try to stop them in the future. So we have a very strong interest in sending an equally strong message in return that we do not welcome any changes to the status quo, we do not welcome any unilateral changes, particularly by force.
NIKOLIC: I have had a lot of correspondence from listeners here, Senator, asking the question I'm about to ask you now. What do you make of the Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy saying that this test was a coincidence and that it won't deter work in the Pacific for Australia? Is it fair for listeners to question whether this was a coincidence, or whether it was planned or whether this is a quick reaction?
PATERSON: I have other criticisms of Pat Conroy, but I agree with him on this. A military exercise like that takes weeks, if not months, to plan. It's difficult to understand how the People's Republic of China could have quickly arranged a missile test like this in response to the announcement in just a matter of hours. But I think your listeners are right to be wary that this is not done without any context. The Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, has said we're in a permanent contest in the Pacific with China. And what that means is that it's an ambition of China to establish a military facility, preferably a naval military facility in the Pacific. If they were able to do that, it would have devastating consequences for Australia's national security. It's one of our most important national security priorities to stop that. And I don't think it's an accident that they're exercising and conducting missile tests in the Pacific while Australia is trying to establish those kinds of relationships.
NIKOLIC: Now, I, as you have, Senator, heard Penny Wong's comments on this, but the government says they've raised their concerns with China, end quote. It doesn't fill me with any confidence. Does it fill you with any confidence?
PATERSON: Well, I don't know in what forum those concerns have been raised. I don't know if it was at the leadership level, although I think that's unlikely. I don't know if at the ministerial level. I think it's probably also unlikely. It's possible it was raised by our embassy in China with Chinese government officials. It's possible it was raised in Canberra with the Chinese embassy. I don't know. And I think the government could be more candid about at what level this has been raised and what the content of those representations were. It is critically important that we make a strong stand here, that China be in no doubt about our perspective on this, not just on our own behalf, but on behalf of our Pacific family as well. Because Pacific Island leaders have been very clear. They want the Pacific to be a conflict free zone, and they want it to be a nuclear free zone. And testing a nuclear capable ballistic missile in the Pacific is an insult to them, and I think we've got an obligation to use our voice to speak up for them.
NIKOLIC: Another point that my listeners are making very loudly here this morning, Senator, is that, you know, in light of the fact that we've just spent a billion dollars with Fiji, another half a billion with Vanuatu, somewhere around the next decade to be spent, why wouldn't we be spending more on defence spending? It's going to go up to the government's announced 3% of GDP by 2033, but that's a long way away, especially in light of what China's just done here, I would have thought.
PATERSON: Well, and they only reach 3% of GDP by counting things we've never previously counted towards defence spending, like military pensions, superannuation, and veteran welfare. Now, those things are important, but we've always spent money on those, and they don't increase defence readiness or capability. We've said we need to be spending 3% GDP in real terms, not using accounting tricks, and this government is not increasing defence spending anywhere near enough given the strategic environment we face. We do not have the state of military readiness we need to deter conflict or to survive a conflict if it's initiated outside of our control.
NIKOLIC: And Senator, before you go, a message here from Brett. 'It's time to threaten China with tariffs on their cheap Chinese cars if they continue to threaten our region. Labor's love and inaction with China is threatening our security.' What's your stance on tariffs and whether that would be an effective way of managing situations like this?
PATERSON: I'm not sure that would be the most useful tool in our toolkit. I think we've got other options available. I think we should be deepening our cooperation with the Pacific. I think we should be exploring a multilateral security treaty with the Pacific. Although I do have concerns about Chinese EVs, which are connected vehicles, coming to Australia, on national security grounds. And I think we should make decisions there in our own national interest to protect ourselves from those risks.
NIKOLIC: I agree with that one completely, and I know I said last one, but I've got another one for you here. 'China's aims in the Pacific make Australia's ties to the US even more important.' That's from another listener. I would have thought that at this point in time, we as a country focusing so heavily on China and neglecting our relationship with the US is not particularly smart.
PATERSON: Our bilateral relationship with the United States is our most important alliance. It's our most important security arrangement. Pillars of that arrangement, including AUKUS, must be pursued absolutely vigorously because one of the things that could cause doubt in the mind of Xi Jinping or other future Chinese leaders when they're contemplating action against Taiwan or anywhere else in the region is that Australia and our partners are capable of deploying nuclear propelled submarines, those Virginia-class submarines in the Pacific, because they don't where they are, they don't know what they can do, they don't where they could pop up and it's a really critical deterrent capability to hopefully prevent conflict in our region.
PATERSON: Senator, thanks for jumping on the line this morning.
NIKOLIC: Thank you.
ENDS