Government has taken the path of least resistance in not sending a warship to Red Sea

have you seen the request from the United States my understanding is that it was broad request either for vessel vessel aircraft or Personnel so isn't the government still responding positively to that request by providing and tripling the number of personnel on the ground there they have taken the path of least resistance Kieran that's what they've done they're sending sick people to operate Prosperity Garden to be staged in Bahrain in Bahrain where the real work is going to take place in the Red Seas along with other Naval contributions the UK for example is sending destroyer the French are sending frig we've always stepped up over the last 100 years when we've had to to be good Global citizen to uphold the global rules-based order and the Prime Minister has squib this it's weak decision and that's why we're calling on him to reverse it because it's in our national interest to contribute if we want others to help us in time of need we need to step up and reciprocate now so so you're saying the government should reverse it send ship to the Red Sea what's your your view though of this argument from the the Deputy Prime Minister where he says that we need to be focused on our region that Strategic Defense review said that we need to focus zero in on the concerns and as he puts it do the heavy lifting in this part of the world that's an academic argument from Richard miles it's not an argument based in reality it's not an argument based in our strategic reality and that is we are an island nation we're the fifth largest user of shipping in the world 2third of our Imports come through the Suez Canal and Red Sea from the Mediterranean so we absolutely have an interest in keeping that open and keeping the houthi rebels backed by Iran away from that area and stopping their missile and their drone attacks on commercial shipping to do otherwise is to put the head over the duner and just say no we're going to focus on the near region which is frankly copout think the Australian people are smart enough to realize that that is copout didn't Linda Reynolds though when the Coalition was last in government and announced that Australia would reduce its presence its Naval presence in the Middle East well that was decision taken at the time but since then we've had the Hamas attacks on October 7th conducted against innocent Israelis more than 12200 people murdered we've got the houthi rebels backed by Iran attacking commercial shipping and this is growing strategic disorder in the Middle East and it's concentrated in the Red Sea and it affects not just our security but also our prosperity so think the government absolutely has an interest in stepping up and contributing to this multinational coalition as part of operation Prosperity Garden we've got to deal with the situation as we find it not as we wish it to be and we have PR of the last 30 years we've contributed 57 vessels to operations so we have strong muscle memory but this government's being weak and and that's fundamentally what's going on here Anthony Alban's instincts are all at Sea he can't make right call on Hamas he can't make right call on China and he squib this call in the Red Sea as well want to play you little of my discussion with Richard miles where asked him about the fact that we've got this decision just after Australia backed the call for ceasefire at the UN going against the US position there as well have quick look at what he had to say will some in Washington be concerned no the United Kingdom abstained and even the United States has has made clear its concerns publicly around the humanitarian situation and we really do need to see that in the context of this this request that's been made not just to us but to coalition of of you know more than 30 countries we are making contribution which is significant which is commensurate with our size and our place in the world Andrew Hasty he says the US and and those in Washington won't be concerned guess you you disagree with that assessment disagree with that assessment the the United Kingdom at least had the decency to abstain from the vote whereas we backed vote calling for ceasefire that didn't even condemn Hamas and the pap guine pap guineans they voted against it there are number of countries that either abstained or voted against it Australia should have been among those countries and so just disagree fundamentally with Richard miles's assessment of that think it diminishes us and what we really need is is moral Clarity and when when motion doesn't have the moral Clarity to condemn Hamas question why we'd support it are you worried about the the capability question the Deputy Prime Minister says this call has not been made due to any lack of Naval capability it's been made on strategic assessment of where our assets should be are you are you worried though that underpinning that there could be question as to whether the nav's up to it am concerned about our Anzac class and our hobit class vessels I'm worried about our personnel and the separation rate from the ADF at the moment which is too high it needs to come down below 10% around the 7 8% Mark it's been up around 11% so do am worried that there is capability question I'm also concerned about the ability of the royal Australian Navy to defend itself against the emerging technologies that we're seeing in the Red Sea the houie rebels are are using drones and missiles and the question is for the government to answer can our Navy actually defend themselves against such threat and if they can't then what are they doing to rectify that Gap in our capability this is where the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister should be leading they should be picking up the phone to defense industry and asking for options on the table but what we've seen since the defense strategic review was released in April we've seen dithering we've seen money being stripped out of the defense budget and we've seen cuts to capability and that's at the heart of this government's national security policy it's weak and it's not good enough want to ask you about this as well this comment from Richard miles on the Global Mail that Chinese owned this the Communist Party run daily they complemented the Australian position when it comes to the Red Sea and on the Seas fire this was Richard mil's reaction is being said but it has absolutely no relationship to the decisions that we make and can tell you that that you know our consultations are with lot of countries it ain't with China our consultations are with the United States first and foremost and with our like-minded partners there you go Richard mes says he's not concerned about what China and the Global Mail is saying are they just in simple terms trying to mess with our heads at the moment Andrew Hast once again think the Deputy Prime Minister had his has his head under the Duna the global times is mouthpiece used by the Chinese Communist party and they're effectively endorsing our position on the call for ceasefire and also for our decision not to deploy vessel to the Red Sea this is classic divide and conquer tactics they are trying to put wedge between us and the United States and other partners who we depend on on for our our security so think it is concerning and should also note in that article in the global times they also Run cover for the houy rebels basically saying they're not doing any damage to commercial shipping so any sort of endorsement from that paper is is not one that you want and think that's problem for the government and and just one before you go residents in parts of parkerville this is in East Perth we've got some live pictures now and I'm told newsing to the The Newsroom that the bushire is burning dangerously close to homes in perth's East it looks like some difficult conditions over there today Andrew Hasty yes Kieran it's it's very warm it's it's there's been strong easterly wind you might be able to pick it up and those two things combined together can make it very very difficult to fight fires so our thoughts and prayers are with the firefighters the volunteers and those affected and we hope that we can get on top of this very very quickly yeah it's looking precarious there for few of those properties Andrew Hasty thanks we wish you and your family all the very best for Christmas and the new year we'll see you next year thanks Karen good to be with you Merry Christmas