‘Where’s the outrage?’: Government response to China’s flare stunt criticised

Sky News host Paul Murray has criticised the Albanese government’s response to a Chinese warplane blasting flares at an Australian helicopter. At about 7:30pm on Saturday, a J-10 Chinese Air Force plane belonging to the People’s Liberation Army dropped flares about 300 metres in front of the Seahawk helicopter and about 60 metres above it. Defence Minister Richard Marles confirmed the helicopter was unaffected and the crew were safe but condemned the incident as “unsafe” and “unprofessional”. “Where is the outrage? Where is the indignation that China yet again does something to endanger the lives of the members of the Australian Defence Force?” Mr Murray said. “This situation was one where only the skill of the Australian pilot is the reason why we are talking about the near-miss as opposed to catastrophe.”