It was a rare moment, but Greens senator Scott Ludlam was happy to say he was on the same page as the coalition government.
The issue was a call by veteran US senator John McCain for Australia to assist Washington in challenging assertive Chinese behaviour in the South China Sea.
"I don't come out here to do it all that often but I do want to acknowledge that foreign minister Bishop has played a very cautious line," Senator Ludlam told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.
"I don't think we should be lobbied by the United States into inflaming tensions in that region any more than they already are."
During a short visit to Canberra this week Senator McCain said the US and Australia should be engaging in "fairly routine" joint military exercises that were not of a "threatening fashion".
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But Senator Ludlam said freedom-of-navigation operations and increased militarisation in the region were not in Australia's interest.
Crossbench senator Nick Xenophon said Australia needed to be very careful about getting involved needlessly in a dispute in the South China Sea.
"The consequences of such a dispute would be enormous for our economy," he told reporters, noting Australia's trade reliance on China.
"I think we need to walk a very fine line on this and I think we also need to be very careful about any dispute President Trump gets involved in."
