Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Brandis, the acting Minister for Defence. I refer the acting minister to the strategic situation to our north. Since 2009, we have seen a North Korean submarine sink a South Korean navy ship, Japan and China have faced off over disputed islands, China has declared an air defence identification zone over the East China Sea and China has had a naval stand-off with Vietnam over oil-drilling rights; there is an ongoing impending tension between China and the United States over land reclamation in the South China Sea. It appears from AUSMIN talks this week in the United States that we may need to increase our naval patrols in the region. Does the minister agree that the strategic situation to our north is worsening or, at the very least, tense?