Australia to prioritise long-range strike capability in defence shakeup

Australia’s government will prioritise long-range precision strike, domestic production of guided weapons, and diplomacy – key points of a review released Monday recommending the country’s biggest defence shakeup since World War Two.
The review said that the United States was no longer the “unipolar leader of the Indo Pacific”, intense competition between the U.S. and China was defining the region, and that the major power competition had “potential for conflict”.
The country’s northern bases will become a focus to deter adversaries, and protect trade routes and communications, the review said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the review “the most significant work that’s been done since the Second World War”.