Home affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo urged to ‘tone it down’ after ‘drums of war’ speech

Pezzullo says countries such as Australia must brace for the curse of war'

The home affairs department secretary, Michael Pezzullo, has been urged to tone down" his language after a speech in which he warned of an increasing drumbeat to war and argued Australia should not avoid conflict at the price of liberty.

The comments come just days after the new defence minister, Peter Dutton, warned of possible war with China over Taiwan, part of an escalation of rhetoric that Australia could be drawn in to a war over China's territorial disputes with regional allies.