Last year, while standing on the foreshore at Nightcliff in Darwin at low tide, I watched an ascending Bell MV-22 Osprey transforming from helicopter to airplane mode. Looking down just after it passed, I saw …
The Strategist on: "North of 26° south"
Queensland’s Kenilworth war memorial seems unremarkable to the average passerby. If you blink, you’ll miss it, and even if you don’t blink, you might still miss it. But a keener observer would notice that there …
Since the 2023 defence strategic review, discussion of northern Australia and its maritime and air approaches has reached its highest tempo since the 1940s. The declassified version of the review released in April mentioned northern …
Spoiler alert: This article references successful procurement changes and positively recognises the work of Australia’s defence ministers. It’s easy to criticise defence procurement initiatives, and the ministers who oversee them. From the Whitlam government’s frigate …
For many observers, Australia’s diplomatic approach in the Indo-Pacific could be characterised as erratic, inconsistent and paternalistic. We run hot and cold. No matter where we are in this cycle, we focus on measuring funding …
Rare-earth elements (REEs) and critical minerals are the world’s building blocks for emerging and future technologies and are essential to manufacturing, clean energy production, semiconductor production, and the defence and aerospace industries. Their supply and …
Resilience, the economy and national security are a live discussion across Australia. People can feel change in their bones, from the climate to mortgage repayments—even Australia’s place in the world. These discussions are happening on …
In 2022, the northern Australia food technology innovation project was established to investigate the business and technical case for producing shelf-stable foods using novel food-processing technologies in the Northern Territory and the north of Western …
Australia is a lucky country when it comes to the potential opportunities for space launch. Its geography means that sites close to the equator, which are sparsely populated and enjoy stable weather patterns, are ideal …
Rare, valuable and with unpronounceable names like praseodymium, critical minerals are the foundations of the technologies on which much modern life depends. Packed into the circuit boards of our smartphones and tablets are chemical elements …
In July, I had the pleasure of visiting Darwin to speak at the 2023 Developing Northern Australia Conference. This was my first visit to Australia, and seeing Darwin firsthand reinforced for me the important role …
In his recent article, ‘Pivoting back north’, Allan Dale argues that reforms are needed to pave the way for progress in northern Australia. Reflecting on the challenges of the northern Australia development agenda since the …