Contributors to The Strategist’s ‘North of 26° south’ series have explored the continued importance of northern Australia to national security and defence strategy, propelling the argument for expanding air, naval and space bases in the …
The Strategist on: "North of 26° south"
What a difference a year can make, so the saying goes. In August 2019, ASPI published Strong and free? The future security of Australia’s north. Since then, Australia has battled bushfires, wild storms and a …
To ensure the digital sovereignty of communities in northern Australia, intensive effort is needed to build greater digital capacity and the social infrastructure to enable it. The region has long suffered from a digital deficit. …
Nations aren’t built in silos. Nation-building, especially in Australia’s north, requires vision, leadership, cooperation and courage in spades. The Department of Defence is a significant economic player in northern Australia, and its investments have intrinsic …
Ever since Covid-19 started cutting a swathe through global supply chains, countless column inches in Australia have been devoted to the need for sovereign manufacturing capabilities as a defence against future disruptions. To its credit, …
The Australian Defence Force and all three levels of government should work together to establish and maintain ‘mounting’ bases in Australia’s north from which overseas operations could be launched. The ADF has home bases, mounting …
To make sure that northern Australia is ready to support a range of defence contingencies, the region must have socially and economically prosperous communities. Supporting the development of these kinds of communities is no easy …
Australians’ daily reliance on digital communications infrastructure—from smartphones and social media platforms to the National Broadband Network—is changing the nature of national security risks. Just like our networked communication patterns, contemporary security risks are becoming …
The Australian government says its new foreign relations bill is about one thing: ensuring foreign policy consistency by reviewing state and territory deals that could undercut Canberra. Fair enough. Foreign policy is a federal—and constitutionally …
Northern Australia can expect to see more visits from US forces, which will create both economic and strategic benefits for Australia. Two recent US government decisions are set to change how the US military, and …
China has dominated the world’s supply of rare-earth elements for decades. Over the past year, however, there has been a growing recognition among the US and its allies (including Australia, South Korea, Japan and India) …
The government’s continuous shipbuilding program has provided a fillip for defence industry in South Australia and Western Australia, but benefits are also set to flow to other parts of the country. Importantly, Australia’s north, particularly …