National Cabinet spent last Wednesday discussing how Australia’s data centres will be powered. The harder question – where they should be built – was left off the table. The meeting was meant to lock in …
Articles by: "Raelene Lockhorst"
For decades, northern Australia has been discussed as a frontier for economic development. More recently, it has become central to Australia’s defence strategy. Yet we continue to approach the region much as we always have: …
The success of Australia’s nuclear submarine program will depend on whether workforce, education and migration policy can keep pace with defence ambition. AUKUS, especially its submarine element, Pillar One, has become much more than a …
For no good reason that anyone can see, much of the infrastructure spending for building Australian nuclear submarines is bypassing public accountability. Of the two main sites for AUKUS Pillar One, the one at Henderson, …
Australia should build more of its AI data centres in the north. The physical infrastructure that powers AI has become a strategic national security issue, not simply a collection of commercial assets but a critical …
The Pacific seabed is no longer an empty space between nations. It is becoming one of the most strategically crowded environments in the region. That crowding is producing a qualitatively different strategic environment – one …
Australia’s defence debate increasingly discusses what we should build in northern Australia. The more important question is whether what already exists can survive disruption long enough to matter. Over the past decade, governments have invested …
The strategic case for Darwin’s role in Indo-Pacific medical preparedness has largely been made. What remains unresolved is the issue of implementation, which is now a pressing challenge. At the 2025 Shangri-La Dialogue, US Defence …
The Future Defence Estate Audit, released in February, should be considered the beginning of the decision-making process on divestment, not its endpoint. Proposed divestment sites should be assessed through a transparent framework that weighs strategic, …
The Australian Defence Force reserves are increasingly weighted in the country’s south and east, despite Defence strategy prioritising the north. It’s much the same pattern seen in the distribution of active ADF personnel, though for …
Australia’s fuel crisis has triggered a familiar response: emergency coordination, reactive policy adjustments and renewed political attention. But the important question is why Australia still responds this way at all. This week, Prime Minister Anthony …
While fuel shortages attract attention, disruptions to shipments in fertilisers or chemicals are just as damaging to our national economy. Australia needs a broader resilience strategy that minimises the vulnerabilities of complex supply chains. Global …