Prime Minister Anthony Albanese shouldn’t rush to meet US President Donald Trump, even if he feels a strong need to do so after meeting China’s Xi Jinping this month. Our big risk at the moment …
Articles by: "Kim Beazley"
Thanks to Michael Pezzullo’s Strategist article last month, we now know that Australia’s 2009 defence white paper foresaw our risky future and planned for it. The white paper’s outlook for Chinese force development and the …
Donald Trump’s new defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has enormous challenges ahead of him—challenges that could seriously affect Australia by upsetting key elements of our ally’s defence position, including its ability to deliver the Virginia class …
In a modestly noted announcement in Western Australia in early December, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Resources Minister Madeleine King announced the addition of $475 million in government loans to mining company Iluka, taking the …
A former commander of Australia’s submarine fleet once described to me the advantage of nuclear-powered submarines over conventional boats using a vivid analogy of predators. ‘If you are a Sydney householder, you probably have funnel web …
Australia has the chance to resolve the problems the AUKUS partners and their friends and allies have with critical minerals, particularly with rare earths, in the face of what is now effectively Chinese monopoly and …
If you are leader of an Australian political party, prime minister, defence minister, foreign minister or Ambassador to the US, the opening paragraph on a speech on the Alliance will contain a reference to our …
As Australia awarded itself an ill-thought-out peace dividend at the end of the Cold War, the impact fell hardest on the Navy’s surface combatant fleet. Arguably no element was thought through more thoroughly for the …
The United States has never sold a nuclear-powered vessel to any nation. In 1958 it transferred technology that enabled the UK to build its own nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs) and ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs). Washington’s decision …
Australian Labor Party debates on defence policy are often full of passion and vigour, especially those involving regional security, nuclear issues and the alliance with the United States. A combination of all three has made …
On page 27 of National defence, the report of the defence strategic review, is a map of Australia’s strategic geography. It superbly situates us and perfectly explains why a power in the distant reaches of …
When I was Australia’s ambassador to the United States, I visited General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut, one of two yards constructing the Virginia-class submarines. A Virginia was the backdrop in San Diego last …