Savour that rare headline. The Pacific wins over political argy-bargy. Australia has listened to the South Pacific and done something to discomfit the ‘junior’ member of the governing coalition, the National Party. Another way to …
It takes 15 minutes in a tinny to cross from Australia to Papua New Guinea. Boigu Island in the Torres Strait is less than six kilometres from PNG—‘within a bow shot’, a colonial administrator once …
The world This week’s headlines were dominated by reporting on the centenary of the end of World War I. Armistice commemorations were held across the world. ABC Nightlife reflects on the 100th anniversary in this …
What’s behind the recently announced plans by Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to provide loans and grants for infrastructure projects to the already debt-burdened Pacific island states? Whether it’s to protect …
As a backgrounder to the APEC meeting in Port Moresby this week, we recently set out in The Australian some of the broad maritime and border security issues Papua New Guinea faces. Here we’d like …
This month, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is attending two major regional summits, the East Asia Summit in Singapore and APEC in Papua New Guinea. Between the two summits, Abe is meeting with his Australian …
My recent study, Thinking through submarine transition, examines the long journey from Australia’s current submarine capability consisting of six Collins-class submarines to its future capability to be provided by 12 Shortfin Barracudas. I argue that …
The beat UK’s first unexplained wealth target released on bail Zamira Hajiveya, the first target of the UK’s unexplained wealth orders, has been released on bail while she awaits an extradition hearing over embezzlement charges …
Indonesia and Australia share one of the longest maritime boundaries in the world. They also share a unique bond as neighbours at the maritime crossroads of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The relationship between the …
When it comes to transnational serious and organised crime in the Asia–Pacific, it’s hard not to be pessimistic. At the moment, Southeast Asia is on the brink of a methamphetamine (ice) epidemic, with cheap and …
Australia’s future submarine capability isn’t in a good place. We started the program at least five years too late due to a combination of indifference from successive governments and a lack of drive from the …
The increasing strategic competition between the US and China means one thing for most of the countries in the Asia–Pacific region: it’s going to be harder to respond to a more assertive China that challenges …
On his week-long tour of Asia, US vice president Mike Pence has been promoting a vision of a ‘free and open’ Indo-Pacific region, characterised by unimpeded trade flows, freedom of navigation, and respect for the …
The many submariners dismayed over decades by claims that their Australian-built Collins-class boats are ‘dud subs’ may ultimately be vindicated by the appearance of a sophisticated, long-range ‘Son of Collins’. Swedish industrial giant Saab now …
On 11 November, Prime Minister Scott Morrison spoke out against religious extremism because of its link to terrorism and violence. Opposition to his statement was swift, including from federal Labor MP Anne Aly, a former …
Sea state The chief of the Royal Australian Navy has confirmed that the first of the submarines being built by French contractor Naval Group may not become fully operational until 2035. Vice Admiral Mike Noonan …
The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (commonly known as the Quad), an informal grouping comprising the United States, Japan, Australia and India, made a return in 2017. Have the Quad’s prospects improved after it failed to take …
Regrettably, terrorist attacks like the one that occurred in Melbourne on Friday evening have become an all too familiar occurrence both in Australia and across the Western world. The deployment of rudimentary modes of attack …
President Donald Trump’s party lost control of the US House of Representatives in midterm elections held last week. However, that probably won’t have any effect on the general trajectory of Washington’s policy on the Middle …
In the aftermath of Friday’s Bourke Street terror attack, many Australians will be asking why the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the Australian Federal Police weren’t watching murderer Hassan Khalif Shire Ali. Some Australians are no doubt bewildered that …