Australia’s defense chief says that the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) military buildup is making his nation’s maritime operations increasingly perilous and that the situation demands a response.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles said the protection of Australia’s sea-trade routes are at the core of its national interest.
“[T]he daily work of the Royal Australian Navy [RAN] is to assert the rules-based order where our trade routes go in places like the South China Sea and East China Sea,” Marles said in a speech at the November 2025 Indo-Pacific International Maritime Exposition, which included the RAN’s Sea Power conference. “That work is challenging, and, in truth, it is becoming increasingly risky. The biggest military build-up in the world today is China.”
Australia raised concerns with Beijing in October 2025 after a Chinese fighter jet dropped flares near an Australian maritime patrol plane carrying out surveillance in the South China Sea, the latest in a series of incidents that Canberra called “unsafe and unprofessional,” Reuters reported. In February 2025, three People’s Liberation Army Navy ships made an unannounced voyage around the continent, sailing in and out of Australia’s exclusive economic zone and firing live shots near commercial airspace, according to The New York Times newspaper.
Marles said that Australia was increasing its military spending to build a “more capable, lethal, long-range Navy.” This more lethal force will be built through the acquistion of frigates from Japan, the development of drone submarines with U.S. company Anduril and the expansion of its naval shipyards, according to Reuters. Then there is the partnership among Australia, the United Kingdom and U.S., known as AUKUS, which was established in 2021 to improve military cooperation and counter regional threats — particularly from the CCP. The first AUKUS phase involves Australia buying at least three U.S.-made Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarines. Eventually, a new AUKUS-class nuclear-powered submarine will be produced for both Australia and the U.K.
Almost everything Australia relies on — from consumer goods to farm machinery to fuel —comes by sea, Vice Adm. Mark Hammond, the RAN chief, said in his maritime conference remarks, underscoring Marles’ call for the safeguarding of trade routes.
“The bottom line is we’re an ocean island-trading nation that depends on access to the sea for economic survival, therefore the prosperity and security of our citizens,” Hammond said, according to The Australian Financial Review newspaper.