Finding a path out of the economic ashes of the Covid-19 pandemic while addressing growing tensions in our region has forced Australia to reassess its defence objectives and shift its national goal of ‘sovereign capability’ …
The Strategist on: "North of 26° south"
Now more than ever Australia needs to be innovative, and our science and technology base is the key to driving national innovation. While our Covid-19 experience has reminded decision-makers to value and trust expert scientific …
The Defence Department’s decisions on acquiring tanks and the next generation of armoured vehicles are contentious and seem to always generate passionate responses. In 2018, former major general and now senator Jim Molan duked it …
As Australia moves through the stages of recovery from Covid-19, we’re increasingly urged in mainstream and social media to support local, visit local and live local. From Mudgee to Mildura, Batemans Bay to Bundaberg and …
The federal government’s Foreign Relations (State and Territory Arrangements) Bill is no paper tiger. In ending Victoria’s link with China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the Commonwealth has reasserted Australian sovereignty in terms of responsibility and …
Australia needs an agile surge capacity to provide emergency personnel to respond to disasters, domestically and into our near region. That need will only grow, due to the increasingly frequent and intense weather events we’re …
Two major infrastructure projects, HyperOne and Project Echo, in conjunction with the Northern Territory government’s ‘Terabit Territory’ plan, have set Darwin on its way to becoming Australia’s national digital hub and the linchpin of telecommunications …
In the ASPI report ‘Thinking big!’: Resetting northern Australia’s national security posture, John Coyne outlines opportunities and challenges in realising northern Australia’s strategic potential for governments, institutions, and communities. One significant challenge articulated in that …
The 2021–2022 federal budget focuses on ‘securing Australia’s recovery’ but it has accepted the assumptions of the past by limiting investment to road and rail infrastructure, not just for northern Australia but across all states …
For even the most casual of observers, it’s clear that over the past decade the global strategic security environment has become increasingly complex. With a rising and increasingly assertive China, a resurgent Russia and a …
Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner recently highlighted an overarching challenge for the territory, and arguably for all of northern Australia—to break the social and economic cycles of severe disadvantage that perpetuate problems for generations. …
Defence Minister Peter Dutton has asked his department ‘to come back with some advice’ about the future of the 99-year lease by Chinese company Landbridge of the Port of Darwin. Hopefully Defence takes this shot …