TRANSCRIPT
- Richard Marles warns China’s nuclear build-up poses grim threat to Asia-Pacific
- Volunteers lead flood clean-up as thousands of New South Wales homes left damaged
- Melbourne City clinch A-League title in historic derby grand final
Australia's Deputy Prime Minister has warned China's nuclear ambitions and Chinese military build up create daunting and grim challenges across the Asia-Pacific.
Richard Marles delivered the remarks in a speech at Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, after United States Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Asian region would remain an American strategic priority, due to what he described as rapidly developing threats from China.
He urged countries in the region to increase defence spending to levels similar to the 5 per cent of GDP that NATO members are pledging to spend.
Mr Marles says Australia's defence spending has increased - as the region responds to the risk of Chinese and Russian nuclear weapons.
"We are invested in shaping the geo-strategic environment. China’s decision to pursue rapid nuclear modernisation and expansion, which aims, in part, to reach parity with or surpass the United States, is another reason the future of strategic arms control must be revitalised."
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French President Emmanuel Macron says he cannot promise military support in the Pacific in the case of any potential military operation by China in the region.
Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Mr Macron says France will never sell what they can't deliver when it comes to military capabilities.
"Our role is not to be a substitute to anybody, but our role is to work for ourselves to improve our strategic autonomy, meaning our own capacity to protect our sole, but through the corporation we have to help the ASEAN countries to do the same for themselves, and to reduce on both sides our dependencies. And we have to do it at a time when there is an increase in the threats and the strategic risks."
Mr Macron also stressed the importance of working towards a ceasefire in Gaza, and mutual recognition of a Palestinian state.
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Massive clean-up efforts are underway after last week's record-breaking floods on the New South Wales mid-north coast.
More than 700 volunteers this weekend are supporting efforts to clear debris - and help residents regain access to their homes.
The recovery push has been led by locals and supported by the State Emergency Service.
Holly Rankin, from the Mid-Coast Community Flood Response group, says the scale of the disaster impacts are immense.
"These are community volunteers working on ground here, we've got three people helping a resident literally take rubbish and put it in a pile for the council to come and clean up, so as we can see, there's not a government agency or emergency response that are going to do these kind of things. It's human hands and boots on the ground that are going to get these kind of jobs done."
Five people have died in the floods, which have damaged more than 10-thousand homes.
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The US special envoy for the Middle East has criticised Hamas' response to the Gaza ceasefire proposal as totally unacceptable.
Hamas says it has submitted a response to the proposal that would see 10 living Israeli captives held in Gaza freed and 18 bodies returned in exchange for a number of Palestinian prisoners.
In a statement, Hamas says its call for amendments are aimed at obtaining a permanent ceasefire, a comprehensive Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and an ensured flow of aid.
US envoy Steve Witkoff says Hamas' proposal takes negotiators backwards, adding that the framework the US put forward is the best path forward.
Israeli officials have approved the US proposal for a temporary ceasefire in the nearly 20-month war; and US President Donald Trump earlier said negotiators were nearing a deal.
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A New Zealand gallery has removed a Māori artist's flag artwork after just 19 days following complaints from the public.
The artwork at the Suter Art Gallery in the city of Nelson featured a New Zealand flag with the words 'please walk on me', and had been intended to go on display for five months.
The work is part of an exhibition that the artist Diana Prince says was created in response to a government policy that limited compensation to Māori tribes for historical land theft, and is meant to provoke reflection on the Māori experience since New Zealand's colonisation by Britain in the 19th century.
It had previously been shown in an Auckland gallery 30 years ago, and was removed after a similar backlash.
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In sports, Melbourne City has claimed their second A-League title, after defeating Melbourne Victory in the grand final 1-nil.
In the first ever Melbourne derby grand final, winger Yonatan Cohen handed City the lead in the 10th minute.
The crowd of 29,902 was a sporting record crowd at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.
City coach Aurelio Vidmar says it is gratifying to get this result, after overcoming setbacks.
