In December 2020, Indonesia’s President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo offered West Papua’s Biak island as a satellite launch site for Elon Musk’s SpaceX program. Jokowi was courting the entrepreneur after deciding that investment and technology exchange …
The Strategist on: "North of 26° south"
Darwin Harbour and the port facilities along its eastern arm have a long history of disregard, disrepair and haphazard investment and control by successive governments dating back to the close of World War II. There has …
The Northern Territory’s geostrategic importance has never been clearer as longstanding tensions in the Indo-Pacific are exacerbated by the dislocating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The United States has foreshadowed an increased military presence in …
Australia has a huge amount to gain from taking advantage of its natural abundance of critical minerals and positioning itself as a world leader in their production. But the federal government hasn’t yet landed on …
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’ …
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 …