As US-China rivalry heats up, can Australia defuse the risk of superpower conflict? | Susannah Patton

Albanese will need to explain how Australia's investment in more lethal defence capabilities will make the Indo-Pacific safer - and ensure conflict never occurs

As spy stories go, the recent foray and ultimate demise of China's surveillance balloon across the United States is not very promising. Beijing probably did not learn any state secrets, and the eventual downing of the unmanned aerial system once it was safely over water is hardly the stuff of Le Carre.

Yet the balloon incident is a powerful illustration of why Australia's foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has been calling for the US and China to put in place guardrails" to manage their competition responsibly.