United States | Dispatch to Australia

[Odinson]

Secret​

Nickolas House, the United States Secretary of The Navy, picked up the phone and called the Australian Minister of Defense, John Faulkner, after being advised to do so by the United States Secretary of Defense. Secretary House made sure to make the call during a time that both he, and Minister Faulkner, would both be awake so that he would not be disturbing his Australian counterpart in the middle of the night. This call was made on a secure line, and Secretary House would not be able to connect to the Australians unless they also had a secure line.

Owen

 

[Owen]

Obviously the best time overlap between Australia and the East Coast of the United States would be the early hours of the morning in Australia and late in the afternoon in the United States. As the Minister was a busy man, he was usually in the office by about 7am, particularly at this time of year during the summer, after going for a morning jog around Lake Burley Griffin. The phonecall would come into the Parliamentary Switchboard and all phone calls coming into and out of that switchboard would be fully encrypted and secured by the Defence Security and Vetting Agency. After the switchboard operators confirmed the origin of the call they would connect it through to the Minister's office.

"Good morning, whom am I speaking to?"

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

"Good morning, Minister Faulkner. This is Nickolas House, the United States Secretary of The Navy. I have spoken with the Secretary of Defense earlier today. The Navy is deploying a task force to the Tasman Sea due to increased global tensions. It is important to understand that this information is, of course, Top Secret. The Secretary of Defense has asked me to reach out to your office to see if it would be permissible for two of our warships to dock at a port in Sydney's harbor, and give some of the sailors a day of shore leave in Sydney. Sydney was specifically chosen because of its high profile and visibility. The United States government would like to make it clear to the international community that we support Australia and consider her to be an integral international partner, and that this could be a very public and visual way to do that, especially with all of the military activity in the area," he said.

Owen

 

[Owen]

"Well Mr. Secretary this is quite good news to hear about your deployment. Though I must make it clear, we don't see what is happening right now as increased tensions. Australia does not seek tensions with other nations, but some other nations.... mainly those that start with the letter T, are a bit dramatic and take a small minor issue and blow it out of massive proportions.

What is happening right now is an increased amount of activity, way beyond the acceptable amount of activity in this region. This is a quiet region. It is a peaceful region. Though every Tom, Dick and Harry wishes to be here right now and its made our Defence Force work overtime and put us on edge a bit. Just days ago we tracked and monitored a Russian fleet within our Exclusive Economic Zone heading to New Zealand, at the invitation of the New Zealand Government and without informing us. Whilst we consider New Zealand our strongest ally, they have historically... at least since the David Lange Government of the 1980s, operated with a very independent foreign policy and have seeked close relations with nations that Australia would not necessarily seek. I'm sure you remember the USS Buchanan incident of 1985.... Their policies have been a thorn in our side for a while, but our policy of mutual defence and the closest economic relations towards New Zealand remains unshakeable. We hope that some United States-New Zealand diplomacy will help steer them in the right direction.

We have the Polish in New Caledonia. We have a Thai fleet in the Coral Sea too. There's Portuguese somewhere as well. Now the United States is joining, though that is something we have seeked for a while and have no problem with. There's just too much firepower off the east coast of Australia right now and its alarming. If you'd pardon my French Mr. Secretary.... It's a dick-waving contest. The only nations we should see operating in this region are Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Poland. Poland being replaced by France if the French decided to take on responsbility for the defence of their territories.... wishful thinking Mr. Secretary. We have no problem with Poland, we work well with their government, but a prolonged Polish presence in the Pacific is something we do not seek, it is not the place for an Eastern European nation. Same with the Russians I guess. I don't want our government to have to Monroe Doctrine the South Pacific, but it's increasingly becoming necessary I feel.

We certainly welcome your Navy at Fleet Base East in Sydney. Sydney Harbour consists of six seperate naval bases spreaded across the harbour which are all under the auspices of Fleet Base East. I'll speak with the Minister for Home Affairs to grant your sailors Special Purpose Visas. Please make sure they all bring official movement orders as that is a requirement for entry under that visa."

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

"The total number that will be coming ashore should be no more than 2,072. As I said, two of our vessels will dock over night, while the rest will remain ten miles off the coast provided that there are no objections from your government... The near-incursion of Russian aircraft into your territorial airspace is concerning. I will be sure to pass this information over to the Secretary of Defense and the Director of Naval Intelligence. I hope that our presence in the area will show our support for your government and hopefully deter any more actions like those.

"It is election time so the American People and the government are focused at home, but the Defense Department wanted to make sure that one of our closest partners south of the equator feels that they have our support. The Navy will get in touch with the RAN when our fleet is approaching. In the mean time, if you need anything, feel free to contact me office," he said.

If there was nothing else to discuss, the phone call would be terminated.

Owen