Liberal senator insists Australia must be ‘ruthless’ in pursuit of US military technology

Liberal senator James Paterson says Australia ‘needs a plan to overcome the regulatory barriers’ to secure access to US weapons technology under the Aukus pact. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Australia needs to be “ruthless” about prioritising which technologies it pursues under the second pillar of the Aukus pact to overcome “regulatory barriers” in the US, the shadow minister for cybersecurity and countering foreign interference, James Paterson, has said.

The Liberal senator made the comments on the Guardian’s Australian politics podcast, warning that an “absence of consensus” in the US and a “clear plan” in Australia could see it miss out.