On 19 June, Prime Minister Scott Morrison, in concert with Defence Minister Linda Reynolds, announced: ‘Australian organisations are currently being targeted by a sophisticated state-based cyber actor.’ This was occurring ‘across a range of sectors, …
Forced labour and the abusive practices of the ‘re-education camps’ in China’s Xinjiang region are being exported to major factories across the country, implicating both global brands and the hundreds of millions of consumers (including …
Originally published 21 February 2019. It doesn’t get much bigger than attacking the home of democracy—parliament house—and a country’s major political parties only months out from a federal election. In his statement on these attacks, …
US President Donald Trump’s muddled messaging on Chinese tech giant Huawei has had us all confused this year. The tweets, mixed signals and excessive focus on trading away policy positions for a ‘deal’ don’t always …
There are few things more ridiculous than an all-male panel (‘manel’), committee or decision-making body. Aside from some very rare exceptions, why they continue to exist today is completely beyond me. Ambassador to the US …
It doesn’t get much bigger than attacking the home of democracy—parliament house—and a country’s major political parties only months out from a federal election. In his statement on these attacks, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said …
Originally published 13 July 2018. Last week, Greg Austin wrote in The Strategist that ‘those in Australia advocating for a ban on Huawei in the 5G network—mimicking the opinion of US intelligence chiefs expressed in …
Australia’s silence on the attribution of cyberattacks and intellectual property theft emanating from China is representative of a broader silence on irritants and fundamental differences in the bilateral relationship. This silence does not serve Australia’s …
Governments rarely monitor and evaluate their diplomatic outcomes and study lessons learned. That’s strange given the extent to which they evaluate and scrutinise foreign aid spending, defence acquisitions and intelligence-collection efforts. Because so much of …
Open-source intelligence (OSINT) has long been undervalued; elbowed out by sexier-sounding ‘secret intelligence’, it has also often been overlooked. But what is intelligence? For the answer, let’s go straight to the wisdom of the Middle …
Last week, Greg Austin wrote in The Strategist that ‘those in Australia advocating for a ban on Huawei in the 5G network—mimicking the opinion of US intelligence chiefs expressed in February 2018—have not reviewed all …
Last week, Australian Signals Directorate Director-General Mike Burgess gave an on-the-record speech to ASPI’s artificial intelligence and national security masterclass. Following his speech, he took some tough questions from the media and the audience. Public …
