When three Chinese warships sailed through the Sydney Heads this week, defence figures with a keen sense of history felt an unmistakable tremor from the past.
"There is nothing routine about anything involving China," one veteran watcher observed.
Over in the Solomon Islands, where the Prime Minister was beginning a three-nation trip initially geared at reasserting regional oversight against Chinese interest, Scott Morrison displayed nonchalance, saying it was a "reciprocal" visit.
"And that is a further demonstration of the relationship that we have [with China], and this had been in train for some time," he said.
"So, it may have been a surprise to others, but it certainly wasn't a surprise to the Government." Chinese Navy personnel are seen onboard a Chinese Navel ship after it arrives at Garden Island Naval Base in Sydney.
Photo: A Chinese warship in front of the Sydney Tower after arriving at Garden Island. (AAP: Bianca De Marchi)
Some Coalition MPs were not convinced.
If the PM knew about a visiting naval delegation, as he seemed to be suggesting, why didn't NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian know about it, they wondered.
Mr Morrison correctly acknowledged the warships were returning from counter-drug trafficking operations in the Middle East, but did not mention that immediately before sailing into Sydney, the Chinese taskforce had been conducting live-firing exercises west of Australia in the South Indian Ocean.
Those history buffs in defence saw the four-day visit in the troubling context of shifting power tectonics, with a distinct echo of events from the beginning of the 20th century.
One-hundred-and-eleven years ago, 16 American battleships painted white sailed through the same heads, greeted by an estimated half-million Sydneysiders. America's Great White Fleet sailed into Sydney Harbour on its way around the world in 1908.
Photo: America's Great White Fleet sailed into Sydney Harbour on its way around the world in 1908. (ABC)
United States president Theodore Roosevelt had ordered the so-called Great White Fleet to make a global circumnavigation to demonstrate American naval might.
For Australia, just seven years after federation, the 1908 visit was an important moment of post-colonial independence — prime minister Alfred Deakin had invited the US fleet to visit amid growing annoyance at the British Admiralty's antipodean neglect.
The US display of power and reach through the Great White Fleet's 14-month global tour confirmed its arrival as the regional power, some 70-odd years after French diplomat Alexis de Tocqueville presciently observed the US and Russia were marked to "sway the destinies of half the world".
But that is a long time ago. Chinese Navy personnel are seen onboard a Chinese Navel ship after it arrives at Garden Island Naval Base in Sydney.
Photo: Chinese Navy personnel onboard one of the docked ships. (AAP: Bianca De Marchi)
The arrival of the Modest Red Fleet in Sydney Harbour on Monday — the day before the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre — has some wondering if it was equally significant.
If the professional strategic cynics are to be believed, the Chinese chose their timing with great precision; the flotsam of an election was still washing on Australian shores and new Defence Minister Linda Reynolds still finding her feet.
"She's still drinking from a fire hose," was how one put it, describing the ministerial download required to be properly "situated" of the task at hand.
At around lunchtime on Friday the Chinese Naval Taskforce will depart Garden Island Naval base, leaving behind an active debate inside Defence and the Government over how to handle future visits.
"It's a question of making sure we're taking the public into our confidence, explaining the movement of ships right around Australia," said Defence Personnel Minister Darren Chester.
"So, I think we can work with the public on explaining when ships are coming and going, I think we can do that into the future".
Three of the nation's media bosses are demanding greater protections for whistleblowers and journalists, in a rare show of public unity prompted by recent police raids.
Key points:
* Executives from the ABC, Nine and News Corp will demand greater protections for the media and whistleblowers
* The calls are prompted by the AFP raids on journalists over two separate stories based on leaked information
* The ABC and News Corp are launching court challenges against the search warrants
In the days after the raids, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he understood the concerns from the media and the public .. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-06/scott-morrison-questioned-on-press-freedom-after-afp-raids/11184058 .. about the way the situation had been handled, and suggested there could be a discussion on how to protect the work of the press and those who provide information that is in the public interest to be published.
Few incidents have brought the media together in such a way, and the National Press Club (NPC) in Canberra will today play host to executives from the ABC, Nine and News Corp in a debate about the freedom of the fourth estate.
ABC managing director David Anderson will tell the NPC he is heartened to hear members of the Government suggest a free media is a "foundation stone of democracy", but argues the law does not adequately reflect those ideals.
"Decriminalising journalism is a mandatory first step," he will say.
"The Criminal Code and the Defence Act both make it an offence for reporters to receive certain types of information.
"No-one deserves to be punished for doing their job and pursuing information that is clearly in the public interest."
Photo: ABC managing director David Anderson warns legislation falls short in protecting the press. (ABC News: Taryn Southcombe)
The company's executive chairman, Michael Miller, argues there is a strong need to "protect the public's right to know".
"We demand the right to contest any kind of search warrant on journalists or news organisations before the warrant is issued," Mr Miller is expected to tell the NPC.
"Public sector whistleblowers must be adequately protected and the current laws need to change.
"We need a new regime that limits which documents can be stamped 'Secret'."
Miller is demanding a review of freedom of information laws, and says journalists should be exempted from the last seven years' worth of national security laws "that put can put them in jail for just doing their jobs".
Bad legislation and overzealous officials hampering media: Marks
Nine chief executive Hugh Marks, whose responsibilities have been expanded from overseeing the company's core television operations to include former Fairfax newspapers such as the Sydney Morning Herald and the Australian Financial Review .. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-27/nine-fairfax-merger-approved-by-federal-court/10558578 , will echo Miller's concerns about the "right to know".
Photo: Nine chief executive Hugh Marks says there is a balancing act between freedom of the press and national security concerns. (AAP)
"As a society, we shouldn't fear truth. We shouldn't fear debate. We shouldn't fear opinions," he is expected to say.
"We are operating at a time when a combination of factors — including technological change, bad legislation across several fronts and overzealous officials in the judiciary, bureaucracy and security services — have steadily eroded the freedom within which we the media can operate.
"Doing what journos do best is never easy. Breaking big stories and conducting major investigations that serve the greater good is tough, relentless work. But work rendered increasingly difficult by the myriad of hurdles I've mentioned."
However, Marks will tell the NPC that there is a balancing act when it comes to national security, and warn that journalists may have to put such interests "before their desire to publish or broadcast".
The National Press Club will be live on the ABC News Channel from 12:30pm AEST on Wednesday.
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