Australia’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds pulled off a magic trick at this week’s AUSMIN meeting. Australian decisions and directions—on military power, digital technology, misinformation and military supply chains—set the scene …
It’s great that the Australia–US relationship, particularly its foreign, defence and security aspects, is getting attention with Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Linda Reynold’s trip to Washington even in the midst of the …
The biggest driver of Australia’s 2020 defence strategic update is the waning of Canberra’s trust in the decision-makers in Beijing. A secondary driver is the recognition that how the US uses its power will not …
Australia’s long-awaited defence strategic update and force structure plan have been released by the prime minister and defence minister. After minimal recital of the continued rightness of the 2016 defence white paper judgements, the government …
The pandemic has many lessons for how Australia’s future economy must operate, with opportunities to build new wealth around the global supply chains that originate with us—in natural resources, energy, food, research and education, for …
Last Friday’s announcement by Prime Minister Scott Morrison that Australia was ‘being targeted by a sophisticated state-based cyber actor’ puzzled some: why not name China, why not be specific about the attacks? It’s the eternal …
There’s a wrestle underway between Australia’s universities and the government over funding, priorities and the future. Right now it looks like a Mexican standoff, not a negotiation. There are grounds for a deal, although getting …
Australia’s parliament is considering a bill that will, among other things, lower the age at which a minor can be questioned by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation during a terrorism investigation from 16 to 14. …
The looming strategic update to Australia’s 2016 defence white paper is an opportunity for creativity and practicality. It’s too easy to imagine the update describing what’s happened in the last four years and moving on …
The protests across America flowing from the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis have exposed continuing deep rifts over race and equality of treatment by the police. The anger, frustration and grief are …
As the world remains focused on the Covid-19 pandemic, the Chinese Communist Party has set about boiling two frogs. Beijing has turned up the heat on Hong Kong. It’s also stepping up its attempts to …
National security agencies can be surprisingly risk-averse organisations and have been historically slow to adopt new technologies outside times of crisis. Within these agencies, chief information and technology officers may be less effective champions of …
