In a speech earlier this week, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that Brisbane, Newcastle and Port Kembla are the three possible sites for a new east coast base for Australia’s nuclear submarines under the AUKUS partnership. Why …
Articles by: "Michael Shoebridge"
Can I let you in on a guilty little secret? The Australian Defence Force is too small. It must grow, which will cost money, political will and a sea change in thinking. That change will …
Two speeches given three days apart have delivered the inspiring sense of purpose and unity the world needs as it confronts the twin empowered autocrats ruling Moscow and Beijing. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US …
Events on the ground in Ukraine as Russia attacks the UN member state and its people are rightly absorbing the world’s attention: 190,000 heavily armed troops invading another country and inflicting death and injury is …
Beijing has repeatedly misunderstood Australia and Australians, so whomever it might ‘pick’ out of particular parties, its track record of judgement has been terrible. China’s leaders thought using the country’s trade with Australia in lobsters, …
Let’s hope the Quad and AUKUS get boring. It’s rare in the politics of diplomacy to have no new ‘announceables’ or major initiatives from key meetings like the Quad involving Indian, Japanese, American and Australian …
Originally published 28 April 2021. There’s a greater likelihood of major conflict in the Indo-Pacific region now than at any time since the end of the Vietnam War. That’s why the Australian government’s 2020 defence strategic …
Australia is ending the year in much better shape than we ended 2020. That’s so even though our region is still a dangerous place, and an aggressive China under Xi Jinping continues to be the …
It’s great news that negotiations between Moderna and the federal and Victorian governments have resulted in Australia establishing a national facility to produce mRNA vaccines and medicines. Oddly, there are some parallels between this project …
President Joe Biden has nominated Caroline Kennedy as the new US ambassador to Australia. Her time as ambassador to Japan from 2013 to 2017 gives us insights into how she will approach the role here …
South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s fourth meeting with Prime Minister Scott Morrison, held in Canberra today, built more momentum in the quiet achiever of Australia’s key regional partnerships. Japan, India and the US have had …
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has done the right thing: he’s announced Australia will join a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics because of the Chinese government’s human rights abuses. While it couldn’t be taken …