Australia will send 11 military personnel to support a US-led mission to protect cargo shipping in the Red Sea, but it will not send a warship or plane, the defense minister said Thursday.
Defense Minister Richard Marles said Australia’s military needs to keep focused on the Pacific region.
Australia has rejected a US request for a warship to help protect international shipping lanes in the Red Sea, with Defense Minister Richard Marles saying the nation’s strategic focus had to remain on the Indo-Pacific.
ReplyDeleteMarles, who is also deputy prime minister, told Sky News on Thursday that Australia wouldn’t be sending a “ship or a plane” to the Middle East, but would instead almost triple its troop contribution to the US-led maritime force, Bloomberg reported.
“We need to be really clear around our strategic focus and our strategic focus is our region,” Marles said.