Live: Albanese says Singapore, Australia 'have each others' backs ahead of talks

Lead

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has arrived in Singapore for talks aimed at securing Australia’s fuel supplies as regional and Middle East security concerns intensify, according to ABC Australia. Defence Minister Richard Marles and Chief of the Defence Force Admiral David Johnston have, in parallel coverage from the same broadcaster, addressed Australia’s possible contribution to keeping the Strait of Hormuz open, the deployment of an E-7 Wedgetail surveillance aircraft to the Middle East, and a forthcoming defence investment package that will channel billions of dollars into drones.

ABC Australia reports that Australia is part of a joint arrangement with dozens of countries, including the United Kingdom, France and Canada, offering support to keep the strait open, and that Australia will join more than 40 nations in discussions on safeguarding shipping there. Marles has also publicly disagreed with former prime minister Tony Abbott’s call for Australia to join United States military action against Iran, the broadcaster reported.

Coverage comparison

ABC Australia’s reporting has approached the story from several connected angles. One thread centres on Albanese’s travel to Singapore—and a planned departure for Brunei—framed around fuel security and the wider effect of Middle East conflict on energy supply routes. A second thread focuses on military capability and political choice: Admiral Johnston’s assessment that Australia could “absolutely” deploy a warship to the Strait of Hormuz if the government decided to do so, alongside Marles’s insistence that capability does not automatically mean a ship will be sent. A third thread looks ahead to Thursday’s release of Defence’s new Integrated Investment Program and the 2026 National Defence Strategy, including substantial new and redirected funding for autonomous systems.

Across these accounts the factual core is consistent on Australia’s participation in multinational talks and arrangements related to the strait, the presence of an Australian Wedgetail in the Middle East, and the government’s reluctance to join direct military action against Iran. Emphasis differs: some segments lead on naval deployability and the state of the surface fleet; others lead on the prime minister’s energy diplomacy; others on long-term force design and drone spending after lessons drawn from recent conflicts, including references in the coverage to Ukraine and Iran.

Key claims

• Australia’s chief of defence, Admiral David Johnston, said Australia could deploy a warship to the Strait of Hormuz if asked by the federal government, according to ABC Australia; he said he was “very confident” the ADF could do so and had “no hesitation in our ability to work in a Strait of Hormuz type role.”
• Johnston pushed back on suggestions that an aging surface combatant fleet would prevent a contribution; ABC Australia noted that some defence analysts and Coalition figures have questioned whether Anzac-class frigates could handle Iranian drone and missile threats, while also reporting that the navy has three newer Hobart-class air warfare destroyers.
• Johnston framed the issue as one of strategic priorities as much as capability, saying the United States has moved substantial forces into the Gulf, including capacity from the Indo-Pacific, and that it is “an important time for us to be present in the Indo-Pacific,” per ABC Australia.
• Australia is part of a joint agreement with dozens of countries to support keeping the Strait of Hormuz open, and military and diplomatic talks among those countries have been underway in recent weeks, according to ABC Australia.
• Australia will join more than 40 nations to discuss safeguarding shipping in the strait, Labor minister Pat Conroy confirmed, as reported by ABC Australia.
• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in Singapore to help secure Australia’s fuel supplies and is expected to travel on to Brunei for the same purpose, according to ABC Australia.
• Australia has deployed an E-7 Wedgetail surveillance aircraft to the Middle East; Marles said Australia moved quickly to support Gulf nations with that deployment while supporting the aim of ensuring Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon, ABC Australia reported.
• ABC Australia reported that an Australian surveillance aircraft operating in the Middle East can filter intelligence so as not to aid offensive United States operations on Iran.
• Marles disagreed with Tony Abbott’s opinion-piece argument that Australia should have joined US military action against Iran and that non-participation risked Australia being seen as a “weak country.” Marles said Australia had “not been a part of this conflict against Iran” and was “in the company of virtually every other country in NATO,” and would “act in our national interest,” according to ABC Australia.
• Marles told ABC’s 7.30 that having the capacity to send a warship would not necessarily mean one would be deployed, ABC Australia reported.
• Billions of dollars will be directed into drones as Defence responds to lessons from recent conflicts; ABC Australia reported at least $2 billion in new or redirected funds in the new Integrated Investment Program, taking total drone-related spending over the next decade to at least $12 billion, with systems such as Ghost Bat, Ghost Shark and smaller cheaper drones cited in the coverage.
• Marles declined to say what would be deprioritised to fund the drone push, saying detail would come later in the week and that Thursday’s documents would show a “continuation of our track record” of increasing defence investment; he also flagged counter-drone technology as “a critical part of the whole equation,” per ABC Australia.
• The defence minister is due to release the new Integrated Investment Program and the 2026 National Defence Strategy on Thursday and to speak at the National Press Club, according to ABC Australia.

Perspectives

Australian government and Defence leadership. As presented by ABC Australia, Albanese’s immediate focus is diplomatic and economic security—fuel supplies via Singapore and Brunei—while Marles and Johnston describe a posture that supports freedom of navigation and Gulf partners without joining combat operations against Iran. Johnston’s public message combines confidence in naval deployability with a reminder that Indo-Pacific presence remains a central priority while US forces are concentrated in the Gulf. Marles links the Wedgetail deployment to support for Gulf nations and non-proliferation aims, stresses national interest and alignment with most NATO countries in staying out of the Iran conflict, and casts higher drone and counter-drone spending as an adaptation to how autonomous systems are used in contemporary wars, while deferring trade-off details to the imminent strategy and investment releases.

Opposition and external critical views. ABC Australia reports that some Coalition figures and defence analysts have questioned whether aging Anzac-class frigates could credibly face Iranian drone and missile attacks if sent to the strait. Separately, former prime minister Tony Abbott, in an opinion piece in the Daily Telegraph cited by ABC Australia, argued Australia should have joined US military action against Iran and warned that standing aside risked a perception of national weakness—a view Marles expressly rejected.

Capability and alliance context. Coverage places Australia inside a wide multinational conversation—more than 40 nations on shipping protection, and a smaller named set including the UK, France and Canada in a support arrangement—while noting US military reinforcement in the Gulf. The Hobart-class destroyers are cited as more capable surface options than older frigates. Reporting that Australian surveillance can be filtered to avoid aiding offensive US operations on Iran underscores an effort, in the government’s public framing, to separate situational support and maritime security from direct participation in strikes.

Force design and budget priorities. ABC Australia’s defence correspondence presents the coming Integrated Investment Program and 2026 National Defence Strategy as the vehicle for locking in a long-term shift toward drones and counter-drone systems, with multi-billion-dollar figures already signalled. Marles’s refusal to name offsets in advance leaves open the domestic debate over what, if anything, will be slowed or reduced elsewhere in the defence portfolio when the documents appear later this week.

Together, the reported developments cast Australia’s response as multi-track: energy diplomacy in South-East Asia, calibrated military support and multinational maritime coordination tied to the Strait of Hormuz, explicit distance from combat operations against Iran, and an accelerated bet on autonomous systems in the next defence strategy cycle.