Michael ReadForeign affairs and defence correspondent
Australia’s fleet of frigates and warships is set to shrink over the coming years just as instability in the Middle East and growing tensions in the Indo-Pacific underscore the importance of expanding the country’s naval power.
US President Donald Trump on Sunday urged the United Kingdom, China, France, Japan and South Korea to send warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz after Iran effectively closed the waterway, a choke point carrying about 20 per cent of the world’s oil supply.
