Defence Minister Peter Dutton says Australia can only preserve peace by preparing for war, while Labor's deputy leader criticises the government for failing to prepare Australia for any future conflict.
Mr Dutton has repeatedly compared China's growing ambitions to those of Nazi Germany in the 1930s, which annexed territory in Europe ahead of its invasion of Poland in 1939.
"We have to stand up with countries to stare down any act of aggression to make sure that we can keep peace in our region and for our country," he said, adding it was pointless for people to "curl up into a ball" or pretend that "nothing is happening.""We're in a period very similar to the 1930s. And I think there are a lot of people in the 1930s that wish they would have spoken up much earlier in the decade, than they had to at the end of the decade.
Deputy Labor leader Richard Marles, who was also in Darwin for the dawn service, said he agreed with Mr Dutton that Australia needed to be prepared, but the government had dropped the ball in making sure Australia's military capability was up to scratch. "But we've not seen the preparation under this government; words are one thing, actions are what matters.
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