Defence chief Angus Campbell has revealed the increasing use of "abhorrent" chemical weapons is among his most pressing concerns.
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In an address to European officials in Brussels, General Campbell lamented the "accumulating and cascading" erosion of prohibitions on weapons of mass destruction, particularly the use of chemical warfare.
"I think that at a human level this is a terrible and insidious issue that needs to be rejected wherever it is seen," he said.
"The walls of constraint and prohibition and taboo (need to be) strengthened because of the devastating effect of those weapons."
General Campbell also expressed concerns about the proliferation of ballistic missiles and the threat posed by North Korea to the Indo-Pacific and wider world.
He said for many years, countries had maintained a pragmatic middle ground between "disastrous" nuclear proliferation and "unrealistic" wholesale denuclearisation.
"It is concerning to Australia and to many other countries where we see nuclear proliferation," General Campbell said.
"There is a sense of some of those rules and norms being deliberately eroded. That is destabilising and dangerous for everybody."
Following a speech heavily focused on navigating the fraught US-China relationship, General Campbell said he was also concerned with ensuring open communication between jostling world powers.
"I think that effort mustn't be taken for granted because it is so catastrophic if it fails and the jostling becomes arguing, becomes conflict, becomes escalation," he said.
Australian Associated Press