February 26, 2025
Defence Force chief David Johnston has revealed that the Australian military only learnt the Chinese Navy was conducting a live-firing exercise in the Tasman Sea some 40 minutes after it began when alerted by aviation authorities.
It took the New Zealand Navy, which was monitoring the Chinese task force, a further 50 minutes to inform the Australian Defence Force about the drills, prompting sharp questions from across the political divide about why it took so long.
Johnston said it was possible a Chinese nuclear-powered submarine was also travelling with the flotilla after opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie said it was a “safe assumption” this was the case.
Airservices Australia officials revealed earlier this week that they only found out about the live-firing exercise on Friday after a midair alert by a Virgin Australia pilot flying through the area who heard a broadcast from the Chinese ships.
Johnston confirmed at Senate estimates hearings on Wednesday that the Australian military received no direct warning from the Chinese Navy and only discovered what was happening when Airservices Australia passed on the Virgin pilot’s message 10 minutes after they were alerted.
It took a further 50 minutes for the New Zealand Navy to contact the Australian military, at 11.01am.
Johnston said he believed the Chinese had given “inadequate notification” of the exercise, prompting pushback from Liberal senator James Paterson, who said China had given “no notification at all”.
“It’s not really notification of an upcoming exercise if we only find out about it after it has commenced, is it?” he asked.
Johnston described the task group’s behaviour as “clearly disruptive” and “irresponsible”, stressing the Australian Navy would not behave similarly in an area such as the South China Sea.
Paterson said he was surprised it had taken up to 90 minutes for New Zealand to inform Australia, saying he believed most Australians would expect such communication from one of our closest security partners would be “direct and immediate”.
“Shouldn’t it be a lot quicker than that?” he asked.
Greens senator David Shoebridge said: “I do find it hard to understand how it takes longer to get a report from probably our closest friend through their military channels than through a Virgin pilot and civil aviation authorities.”
Labor senator Jenny McAllister, representing the government at the hearings, said: “The government has been very clear that the notification [from the Chinese Navy] fell short of expectations.
“It is our practice ... to provide 24 to 48 hours notice for live-fire exercises to allow other affected parties to manage safety issues and conduct planning.
“That did not occur in this case ... This does fall short of best practice.”
Johnston said Australia does not conduct live-fire exercises in the path of international flight routes or shipping lanes.
He added that firing vessels were required to notify of their activity, but that does not specify a “pre-notification period”. Firing vehicles are also required to take active steps to ensure the safety of aircraft and other vessels in the area.
Asked whether he believed a submarine was accompanying the ships, Johnston said he did not know, but that submarines sometimes travelled with naval task groups.
Hastie told ABC radio on Wednesday that “we should also assume as well that there’s probably a general-purpose attack-class submarine in the water as well as part of the flotilla. I mean, that would be a safe assumption that any military strategist would make.”
Discussing why the Chinese task group had travelled so far from mainland China, Defence Department Secretary Greg Moriarty told the hearings: “The Chinese are signalling, they are practising and rehearsing, and they are collecting.”
Airservices Australia officials revealed on Monday night that 49 commercial flights were forced to divert from their intended routes because of the Chinese live-fire exercise and that they first thought the Virgin pilot tip-off may have been a hoax.
Airservices Australia chief executive Rob Sharp told Senate estimates his organisation only knew about the Chinese exercise at 9.58am on Friday, half an hour after it began.
“It was, in fact, Virgin Australia advising that a foreign warship was broadcasting that they were conducting live firing 300 nautical miles east of our coast,” Sharp said.
“That was how we first found out about the issue.”
After two weeks prowling the waters near Australia, the Chinese flotilla re-entered Australia’s exclusive economic zone in the early hours of Tuesday morning and was observed 160 nautical miles (296 kilometres) east of Hobart.
Johnston told the committee the flotilla was currently 250 kilometres south of Hobart and heading south-west, possibly through the Great Australian Bight.
