Debate over China’s role in Australia’s security has become polarised, with critics retreating to a familiar refrain: China is our largest trading partner, so any security concerns are exaggerated. That argument is not just incomplete; …
Articles by: "John Coyne"
The widening conflict involving Iran is causing shipping disruptions that are threatening global fuel supplies. But this is only the latest reminder that economic vulnerability is strategic vulnerability. It reinforces that markets are now arenas …
Critical minerals supply chains are shaped as much by geography as policy or finance. Yet much of Australia’s national debate still centres on regulatory frameworks and capital markets rather than the physical places where processing …
Strategic surprise rarely occurs because there is no warning. Signals accumulate, intelligence reporting circulates and analysts identify emerging risks. Strategic surprise occurs when institutions cannot quickly integrate those signals to act on them. In a …
Australia can deploy forces to northern Australia quickly. But sustaining them at scale still depends on a handful of freight corridors, limited fuel depth and commercial logistics networks that Defence hasn’t clearly incorporated into an …
Australia’s defence strategy now points north, but the nation still lacks the systems required to fight and sustain operations there. Strategic documents have identified northern Australia as the decisive geography for deterrence and denial, yet …
Food supply is long overdue for elevation into national security policy. As The Australian reported on 19 February, there are persuasive arguments for Australia to follow the United States in treating our agricultural capacity and …
Allied governments want resilient critical mineral supply chains. Investors want contracted revenue. Capital does not finance separation plants and magnet facilities based on strategic aspiration; it finances credible, long-term demand. Policy still leans too heavily …
Security concerns drove the Australian government’s 2025 decision to bring Darwin Port, currently leased to Chinese company Landbridge, back into the control of Australian or trusted partners. So it should now be backed by the …
Australia needs an integrated approach that strengthens cyber and space capabilities and builds a resilient, dispersed posture in the north. This would ensure that in any future scenario the first operational leap projects outward. Northern …
Australia’s response to antisemitism and other forms of prejudice is increasingly framed through the language of national security. That instinct is understandable. Hate speech, intimidation and ideologically motivated violence sit on a continuum of risk …
Discussion of the Australian Defence Force’s planned littoral-manoeuvre capability is too narrow, focusing on ships, ranges and geography. Defence should treat it as an alliance-enabled industrial and economic program that delivers through measurable readiness, resilient …