Scott Morrison News

In August, 2021, after years of delays, cost overruns, and rising tensions, the Australian government canceled a A$90 billion order with France’s Naval Group for 12 conventionally powered submarines intended to replace the Royal Australian Navy (RAN)’s aging fleet of six Collins-class attack subs. Overnight, the future of the RAN’s undersea warfare capability was cast into uncertainty. The very next month, however, the United States and the United Kingdom announced a plan to help Australia fill the void…

A Chinese intelligence ship was tracked off Australia's west coast within 50 nautical miles of a sensitive defense facility, Australia said on Friday, raising concern amid an election campaign about China's behavior in the region.Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Chinese navy vessel was not in Australian territorial waters but its presence was "concerning"."It is clearly an intelligence ship and they are looking at us and we're keeping a close eye on them," he told reporters.Australia…

The Australian Department of Defense will order an additional two Evolved Cape-class Patrol Boats (ECCPB’s) for the Royal Australian Navy from shipbuilder Austal for $124 million. The two new vessels are in addition to the six Evolved Cape-class Patrol Boats that are currently being delivered by Austal Australia for the Royal Australian Navy.The announcement was made during a visit by Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, to Austal's Henderson Western Australia shipyard.

Australia on Tuesday said it would lift its entry ban for international cruise ships next month, effectively ending all major COVID-related travel bans after two years and boosting a tourism industry hit hard by the pandemic restrictions.Australia banned the entry of cruise ships in March 2020, when they were the source of about 20% of Australia's early coronavirus infections. The vessels became a flashpoint in its pandemic response after symptomatic passengers were allowed to disembark in Sydney…

France should not have been surprised that Australia cancelled a submarine contract, as major concerns about delays, cost overruns and suitability had been aired officially and publicly for years, Australian politicians said.Paris has recalled its ambassadors from Canberra and Washington, saying it was blindsided by Canberra's decision to build nuclear-powered submarines with the United States and Britain rather than stick with its contract for French diesel submarines.Yet as early as September 2018, an independent oversight board led by a former U.S.

Indonesia said on Friday it was worried about an arms race in the region after neighboring Australia announced plans to acquire nuclear-powered submarines as part of a new Indo-Pacific security alliance with the United States and Britain.Known as AUKUS, the alliance will see Australia get the technology to deploy nuclear-powered submarines as part of agreement intended to respond to growing Chinese power.In a statement on Friday, the Indonesian foreign ministry noted with caution…

The United States, Britain and Australia will establish a security partnership for the Indo-Pacific that will involve helping Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines, senior U.S. officials said on Wednesday, as Chinese influence over the region grows.Under the partnership, to be announced on Wednesday by President Joe Biden, British Prime Minster Boris Johnson and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, the United States will provide Australia with the technology and capability to deploy nuclear-powered submarines…

Japan and Australia agreed on a breakthrough defense pact on Tuesday allowing reciprocal visits for training and operations, and voiced concern over the disputed South China Sea, where China is extending its military influence.It is Japan's first agreement covering foreign military presence on its soil since a status of forces agreement in 1960 that allowed the United States to base warships, jets and troops in Japan as part of an alliance that Washington describes as the bedrock of regional security.The Reciprocal Access Agreement strengthens defense ties between the two U.S.

Australia is investigating media reports that China has stopped taking its coal shipments, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Tuesday, adding that such import quotas to support China's market were "not uncommon".Trade industry reports late last week suggested that some Chinese ports had been told not to accept Australian thermal and metallurgical coal, and that Australian shipments were being sold along to other markets at the last minute.China's imports of coal had been expected to slow in the second half…

The inquiry commissioned by the Berejiklian government into the Ruby Princess COVID-19 disaster has laid blame on NSW health officials, who made “inexcusable” and “inexplicable” mistakes. It also exonerated the Australian Border Force.In the report, the federal government was sharply criticized for refusing to allow an official to appear before the inquiry, with commissioner Bret Walker SC saying this belied Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s promise of full cooperation.Some 2,700…

Australia is pushing foreign-flagged cruise ships to leave its territorial waters amid the coronavirus pandemic, walking a diplomatic tightrope as it also tries to bring home citizens trapped on ships abroad.Western Australia state Premier Mark McGowan on Wednesday called on the federal government to kick out the German-owned MV Artania after the crew was reported to have asked the Australian Border Force (ABF) for permission to stay until April 14.“If what’s required is to clean the ship as a condition of getting it underway, well then do that ...

Australia ordered two cruise ships to leave its waters on Thursday, after a liner that docked in Sydney Harbor last week became the primary source of infection in the country's coronavirus outbreak.Although well below levels elsewhere in the world, the pace of Australia's infections is starting to pick up speed, reaching nearly 2,800 cases and 13 deaths.The government of West Australia state said nobody would be permitted to disembark from the German-operated MV Artania after seven of 800 foreign passengers on board tested positive for the virus…

Australia will evacuate more than 200 of its citizens onboard a coronavirus-stricken cruise ship being held under quarantine in the Japanese port of Yokohama, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday.Morrison said the passengers will depart on Wednesday and will be taken to Australia's tropical north, where they will be required to be quarantined for another 14 days.The Diamond Princess cruise ship, owned by Carnival Corp , has been quarantined since arriving in Yokohama on Feb.

Australia will join the United States in a security mission to protect merchant vessels travelling through key Middle East waterways after Iran seized a British-flagged vessel, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday.Foremost among the areas to be patrolled is the Strait of Hormuz, between Oman and Iran, through which about one-fifth of the world's seaborne crude flows out of the Gulf.Global commodity trading has been rocked in recent months by the seizure of the British tanker and a series of attacks on international merchant vessels that the U.S. and Britain have blamed on Iran, though it denies involvement. Britain this month became the first U.S.

The Prime Minister of Australia and leader of the Liberal Party Scott Morrison is promising $1 billion to build three naval ships in Western Australia to create 1000 jobs if the coalition wins the election."We will build two mine warfare support vessels and a hydrographic vessel in Perth," he said in an announcement.On the WA shipbuilding funding Morrison said it would ensure jobs created in the sector would continue to the 2030s."This commitment in West Australia adds to the 31 minor war vessels already being built in the state - built in Australia, by Australian workers, with Australian steel," local media quoted him as saying.A Morrison government would bring forward the replacement of the Huon-class mine hunters from the 2030s to the mid-2020s…

Australia signed a production contract with French shipbuilder Naval Group for a fleet of 12 new submarines, worth $35.5 billion, ending a two-year wrangle that cast doubt over one of the world's most lucrative defense deals.Australia selected the French builder as its preferred bidder for the fleet of submarines in 2016 ahead of other offers from Japan and Germany.However, final contracts were delayed amid domestic media reports of cost blowouts and production delays.Australia and Naval Group signed a Strategic Partnering Agreement…

Austal has launched the sixth in-series Cape Class Patrol Boat (CCPB) at the company’s Australian Defense Facility in Henderson, Western Australia. The launch of Cape Leveque marks the third year in a row a CCPB has been launched in the first week of January; preceded by Cape St George (CCPB01) in 2013 and Cape Byron (CCPB02) in 2014. Cape Leveque is the sixth of eight 58-meter patrol boats that are being delivered to the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS) by Austal as Prime Contractor under a design…

Asset integrity management specialist XPD8 Solutions said it has continued its recent success in West Africa for work off the coast of Ghana. Over an 18-month period, the company will develop the maintenance program and inventory data for MODEC’s TEN MV25 floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, operated on behalf of Tullow Oil. XPD8 is a company in maintenance engineering, condition monitoring and integrity services for the oil and gas sector. The company’s international reach has grown over the past 12 months to cover Europe, South East Asia and Africa.

Marine Rescue Port Hacking’s new $270,000 offshore rescue vessel commissioned at the unit’s new home base at the Hungry Point Reserve, Cronulla. Emergency Services Minister Michael Gallacher and Federal Member for Cook Scott Morrison joinrf  the MRNSW Board, Commissioner Stacey Tannos and volunteers from the Port Hacking unit for the commissioning ceremony for Port Hacking 30. Commissioner Tannos said the 8.5 metre Kevlacat was able to travel up to 15 nautical miles offshore, making it a valuable addition to marine search and rescue resources in Greater Sydney.

The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS) and the Australian Defense Force have commenced a joint review into Australian vessels which entered Indonesian waters contrary to Australian Government policy, during operations conducted in association with Operation Sovereign Borders. The review was announced by Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, the Hon Scott Morrison MP, and Commander Joint Agency Task Force Lieutenant General Angus Campbell DSC, AM, on Friday, January 17, 2014. The review will be co-chaired by senior officers from the ACBPS and the Australian Defense Force. ACBPS and Defense acknowledge the seriousness of this matter and the urgency required as a consequence of the importance of our relationship with Indonesia.