Australian journalist Latika Bourke has accused Defence Minister Richard Marles' office of censoring her questions after they were marked "inaudible" in the official transcript of a London press conference. Bourke had pressed Marles on his claim that Australia's defence spending sits at 2.8 per cent of GDP, a figure he uses to argue Australia outperforms most NATO members, but the government's published record omitted nearly all of her questions despite her standing roughly a metre from the minister.

Bourke said she was giving Marles' office the "benefit of the doubt", noting the press conference was held in a "windstorm" that may have affected audio quality, but defence analyst Michael Shoebridge of Strategic Analysis Australia called it a "striking coincidence" that only the awkward questions were deemed inaudible, describing it as potential "covert censorship". Shoebridge disputed Marles' 2.8 per cent figure, estimating actual spending at just over 2 per cent of GDP, rising to about 2.3 per cent within a decade, well short of NATO's 5 per cent benchmark. He argued the lack of transparency benefits the government by obscuring Australia's real commitments from allies such as the Trump administration. The Daily Mail has contacted Marles' office for comment, and Bourke published the disputed questions and answers in her newsletter.