ASPI has published The cost of Defence every year since 2002. The series has, year after year, assessed what governments said they would do against what the books showed. It’s the type of scrutiny that …
The Strategist on: "ASPI staff"
Australia’s 2026–27 budget commits the federal government to daily spending around A$181.9 million on defence. That headline sits on the cover of our 2026 The cost of Defence report, released today. The number is sobering. …
US President Donald Trump’s suggestion that he might speak directly with Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te about weapons sales matters not because a call has been scheduled – it has not – but because of what …
In today’s national security environment, experience alone is no longer enough. As technology, industry and strategic competition evolve at speed, Australia needs to do more than rely on established voices. It needs to actively amplify …
Since not long after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the democratic world has largely watched passively as China has been the main enabler of Moscow’s war effort. Despite knowing about Russia’s reliance on …
The Quad is not dead. Some are declaring its demise, but tomorrow’s meeting of the foreign ministers of Australia, India, Japan and the United States in New Delhi will be uplifting proof of life amid …
Japan’s decision to train again in Townsville makes operational sense. Still, it exposes a deeper strategic problem in how Australia is shaping its northern defence posture. The choice aligns with Japan’s immediate training needs. Yet …
Two democracies, very different in scale, are grappling with the same problem: how to protect young people from radicalisation through online gaming. After Australia’s worst terrorist attack, the Bondi Beach massacre in December, the federal …
Northern Australia is often described as constrained by distance, workforce and cost. That framing misses the point. By any other definition, it’s a greenfield industrial system, with abundant energy, world-class mineral endowment, available land and …
The reduced Collins-class submarine Life-of-Type Extension (LOTE) program, announced on 19 May, will cost more than previously expected and deliver less capability. The government’s decision to cut back the scope of the work also increases …
China’s influence in Solomon Islands is likely to weather the accession to power on 15 May of a prime minister who’s less favourable to it than his predecessor. While Australia has improved its relationship with …
Spyware, once primarily used by intelligence agencies and nation-states, has become a tool of intimate partner abuse, quietly deployed against people – mostly women – who have no idea they are being watched. In an …