Sam Roggeveen
speaker
193 appearances
2 recordings
1 series
first heard Jun 2026
last heard 8 Jul
Sam Roggeveen’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 2 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 1.
Appearances
So we should actually expect this to become much more frequent.
Well, I think Marles is basically right.
So as I said earlier, the test is not about us and it's not about the Pacific.
But I do think it's worth pointing out that China could have chosen a different date for this test.
I mean, it's a perfect illustration of why we're entering these kind of agreements in the first place, because I think Australia can say, you know, quite persuasively and convincingly that for us in Australia, the Pacific is priority number one.
For China, it's no more than a second or third order priority.
Look, I think the government can get a lot of credit for important diplomatic agreements, as you say, now with Fiji, Papua New Guinea as well, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Nauru, all with, I think, one ambition.
at their core.
And having just said that this particular missile test is not about Australia and not about the Pacific, I would add that Australia's diplomatic activism in the region is very much about China.
It has China at its core.
So, you know, there was credible reporting late in the 2010s that China was
seeking with various Pacific Island governments an agreement for a permanent Chinese military presence in the Pacific Islands region.
And that is something that Australia desperately wants to avoid.
And that is what I think the current wave of Australian diplomatic activism is really all about at its core.
It's an attempt to exclude China.
The big advantage that Australia has in dealing with any kind of strategic threat from China is distance.
It's our greatest strategic asset.
Beijing is closer to Berlin than it is to Sydney.
And so by all means, we want to maintain that advantage of distance.
Right, absolutely.
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