Yesterday evening the Lowy Institute hosted a dinner for the commander of US Pacific Command, Admiral Timothy Keating. Keating is quite a personality — his staff told us he rarely speaks from behind a lectern, and he was true to form last night, roaming around the Institute's dining room as he metaphorically roamed around the region, touching on all the hot topics.
I got a few minutes with him afterwards to discuss China's relationship with Australia, China's naval expansion, the North Korea problem and his views of our Defence White Paper. (Apologies for my umming and aahing; I really need to work on that.)
[sound:090901_keating.mp3]