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We’re not even a full week into the 2025 election campaign, and defence and national security is shaping up to be one of the surprise battlegrounds for both parties as Chinese research ship Tan Suo Yi Hao has been spotted conducting research and surveying the sensitive waterways south of Australia.
With much of the angst following the circumnavigation of Australia by a powerful but relatively small surface action group of the People’s Liberation Army-Navy just a few weeks ago in the rear vision mirror, many Australians would be forgiven for dismissing the idea that defence and national security would emerge as key election issues.
But that is not the case.
It has been revealed that a Chinese flagged, hydrographic survey vessel, the Tan Suo Yi Hao, has been spotted, following up on the recent live-fire exercises and maritime excursion around Australia traversing the Bass Strait once again setting a cat among the pigeons as Australia’s political leaders and the Australian public grapple with a world completely different to the preceding 80 years.
Yet outside of a few outlets, little is being made of the latest, albeit lower-level attempts to apply subtle pressure to Australia, with even Prime Minister Anthony Albanese seeking to effectively brush off serious concerns.
The Prime Minister told reporters travelling with the press pack for the 2025 federal election campaign: “I would prefer that it wasn’t there. But we live in circumstances where, just as Australia has vessels in the South China Sea and vessels in the Taiwan Strait and a range of areas, this vessel is there.”
If this sounds familiar, it is because it is. It is a variation of the Prime Minister’s rhetoric about the “lawful” actions taken by the Chinese naval task group in the Tasman Sea, where a commercial pilot from Virgin Airlines was seemingly the first to know of the incident, despite the Prime Minister’s reassurances that the government was tracking the task group and informed well in advance of their live-fire intentions.
Equally, this echoes the attempts to draw comparison between Australia’s own freedom of navigation exercises in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait (to strategic waterways where greater than 75 per cent of our annual exports flow through) to the conduct of the People’s Liberation Army-Navy and now, the Chinese government via the Tan Suo Yi Hao.
Firing back at the Prime Minister is the Coalition’s campaign spokesperson and shadow minister for Home Affairs, Senator James Paterson, who said: “There is a world of difference between monitoring a foreign vessel in our waters with Border Force instead of the Defence Force. First, we relied on Virgin Australia pilots; now, he’s mixing up the ADF and the ABF. Anthony Albanese is just not across the details when it comes to national security.”
These statements were echoed by Andrew Hastie, shadow minister for Defence, Defence Industry and Defence Personnel who added, "Mr Albanese yesterday insisted that it was the Australian Defence Force (ADF) that was monitoring Chinese dual-purpose research vessel, Tan Suo Yi Hao, which is circumnavigating the southern coast of Australia within our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
"However, the Prime Minister’s Deputy, Richard Marles, had to step out this morning to clean up the Prime Minister’s mess, clarifying that it is the Australian Border Force taking the lead on monitoring the vessel, not the ADF. The Prime Minister’s latest gaffe comes after he baselessly compared the Chinese vessel’s operations within our EEZ to activities that the ADF undertakes in the South China Sea."
Adding to this, Mr Hastie said, "Have Labor already forgotten about the flotilla of Chinese warships that circumnavigated Australia and disrupted commercial flight paths with live-firing exercises – something they had to be alerted to by a Virgin Airlines pilot?"
All the while, defence and national security, at least for the time being, seems to be far from the forefront of the minds of both parties, or for that matter, the Australian people, but perhaps this latest attempt to influence Australia will signal a growing number of attempts that will drag us kicking and screaming to the realisation that we are incredibly vulnerable.
Adding further complications is the recent announcement by the People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theatre Command spokesperson, Senior Colonel Shi Yi, who said: “Starting from April 1, the Eastern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army organised the army, navy, air force, rocket force and other forces to organise ships and aircraft to approach Taiwan Island from multiple directions around the island, focusing on exercises in sea and air combat readiness patrols, seizing comprehensive control, sea and land strikes, and blocking key areas and roads, to test the actual combat capabilities of the theatre’s troops in joint operations. This is a serious warning and powerful containment of the ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces, and is a legitimate and necessary action to defend national sovereignty and maintain national unity.”
It is clear that there is no putting the genie back in the box, so let’s hope and pray that both sides get cracking on investing and delivering capability at pace.
Stephen Kuper
Steve has an extensive career across government, defence industry and advocacy, having previously worked for cabinet ministers at both Federal and State levels.
