INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS:

The Chinese Government has admitted responsibility for sending a large surveillance balloon (main picture) over Australian air space.

The admission followed the detection of the balloon by the RAAF earlier today high in the sky over Central Queensland.

Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister, Richard Marles, said he believed the balloon may have taken aerial surveillance photos of sensitive Australian defence facilities.   

“This is an invasion of our air space and of our sovereignty,” Mr Marles said.

“As a result I have ordered an immediate review of our defence capabilities for dealing with these types of intrusions.

“The results should be at hand very soon, probably later this year or maybe early 2024.

“In the meantime I wish to thank the model aircraft enthusiasts who are members of the Rockhampton Area Amateur Flyers for discovering the balloon.

“Believe me, if we had waited for the Air Force to find it we’d still be waiting,” Mr Marles said.

A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Canberra, Fuk Yu, said the balloon did belong to China.

“But I can also confirm that it is just one of our standard whether balloons,” he said.

“We fly these in all parts of our worl…. I mean, in all parts of the world just to check out local conditions and to help us make decisions on whether to invade a country or not.”