Episode 132

Episode 132

From Asia Pacific Defence Reporter by APDR

March 23, 2026 · 19 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the escalating tensions in the Middle East and Australia's foreign policy stance amidst these developments.

The situation in the Middle East risks spiralling out of control with Donald Trump threatening to destroy Iran's electricity grid and that country saying it will retaliate by targeting water desalination plants throughout the region. Australia will not send a warship to the region at the moment, even if one were available, because the nature of warfare is being radically altered. The information about the ship was provided to the public by Transport Minister Catherine King because the PM, Defence Minister and Foreign Minister were all too scared to say anything that might displease the US. Our government's slavish attachment to Washington continues. Australia needs to seriously consider the possibility of being inadvertently drawn into committing war crimes. We conclude with some very wise words from retired AVM John Blackburn, who says AUKUS is a waste of money and should be scrapped. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Topics covered

  • Middle East conflict
  • Australia's foreign policy
  • AUKUS
  • war crimes
  • US relations

Keywords

  • Middle East
  • Donald Trump
  • Catherine King
  • AUKUS
  • war crimes
  • Australia
  • Iran

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: AUKUS

Places: Australia, Iran, Middle East

More episodes of Asia Pacific Defence Reporter

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Asia Pacific Defence Reporter podcast page.