Australia's PM Raises Deadly Optus Outage With Singapore Counterpart Amid Defense Tie Expansion

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese raised the recent deadly outages of Singtel-owned Optus's emergency "000" number with Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong during a bilateral meeting in Canberra. The outages, occurring in close succession, affected thousands and were linked to four deaths due to delayed emergency aid. Wong expressed condolences and emphasized the expectation that Singtel and Optus comply with Australian laws and cooperate fully with the ongoing inquiry, acknowledging the public's anger and frustration. Calls have emerged for Optus CEO Stephen Rue's resignation and potential revocation of Optus's operating license amid the controversy. Beyond addressing the outage, the two leaders agreed to deepen defense ties, including expanded reciprocal access to military facilities in Australia and Singapore, and to enhance cooperation in trade and investment. This comprehensive engagement underlines the importance both countries place on their bilateral relationship despite challenges.