Trump’s Tariffs Shouldn’t Distract From CCP Military Expansion: Senator Price

Liberal Party Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has warned Australians that they underestimate the security risks posed by the Chinese Communist Party, urging a frank national debate about Beijing’s military ambitions.

Speaking at the Bush Summit in Darwin on Sept. 1, Price said public concern was misplaced.

“It’s confounding that a recent Newspoll found that more Australians are worried about President Trump’s tariffs than the Chinese Communist Party’s military aggression,” she said.

She argued that government language like “strategic competition” and “disruption to the global rules-based order” blurred the real threat.

“Such vague bureaucratic speak stops our nation discussing what we must. We must have a frank and national debate on the danger posed by the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) military aggression in our region and its foreign interference within our country.”

According to Price, the CCP’s military expansion over the past decade was not for self-defence but to assert dominance. “When its navy tested weapons off our east coast, that wasn’t a benign exercise. That was a rehearsal. And there can be no doubt that the Chinese Communist Party wants to see China become the dominant power within the region,” she said.

“The Chinese Communist Party’s warships circumnavigated our continent. They project naval power into the region. Their missiles can strike Australia. Once our country was largely protected by the tyranny of distance. Now, new weapons have turned safety distance into perilous proximity,” she said.

Price also highlighted lessons from Ukraine and the Middle East, saying traditional platforms like tanks and submarines were increasingly exposed to “small, simple and smart weapons” such as drones and precision munitions.

“What we urgently need is a sovereign defence industry that can produce these consumables of conflict at speed and scale,” she said, stressing the role of small and medium-sized businesses in building technology with military applications in AI, cyber, drones, satellites and autonomous systems.

She called for an increase in defence spending to at least 3 percent of GDP—the Trump administration hopes Australia can lift spending to 3.5 percent—arguing the country must back local industry, even at the risk of failure.

The senator also outlined economic productivity concerns with the Aboriginal Land Rights Act, which she says is outdated.

Price said the law kept Indigenous Australians “land rich and dirt poor.”

Marles said the Feb. 21 exercise, 346 nautical miles off Eden, took place in international waters under global maritime law.

“I’ve always understood that the maintenance and support of the global rules-based order has been a matter of bipartisanship between the parties of government in this country,” he said.

He warned the opposition’s line of questioning risked undermining that consensus.

“It underpins our national interest as a global trading nation … the basis upon which this country does its exports and imports, and so much of our national income.”

“One of the good news stories of the past couple of years is that we are back in business with our biggest trade partner,” he said.

Albanese said China had lifted all trade restrictions “without Australia compromising on our interests or values,” pointing to $19.5 billion in recovered exports last year, from coal to wine and seafood.

“Every loaded ship leaving an Australian port for China is a victory for a regional community,” he said, noting barley sales had grown from $600 million in 2019 to $1.8 billion in 2024, while red meat exports hit $3.1 billion.

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