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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Tom McIlroy and Sarah Basford Canales

Australia tracking Chinese navy flotilla in Philippine Sea as Marles announces major defence overhaul

Richard Marles
Australian defence minister Richard Marles has announced a major overhaul of the defence bureaucracy. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

The Albanese government has announced a major overhaul of the defence department, aimed at tackling budget and timeline blowouts, on the same day it confirmed Australia was tracking a Chinese navy flotilla in the Philippine Sea.

In the biggest changes to the defence bureaucracy in Australia since the mid-1970s, Labor will merge three agencies: the capability acquisition and sustainment group, the guided weapons and explosive ordinance group, and the naval shipbuilding and sustainment group.

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