Australia needs a dedicated aerospace testing range, and it should be in the Northern Territory. Developing aircraft, missiles and their equipment, and verifying new capabilities added to them, requires real-world testing in large airspaces equipped …
When I stepped into the role of director for Women, Peace and Security (WPS) at the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF), I knew the terrain would be complex. The National Action Plan had lapsed in …
Governments across the Indo-Pacific are facing a critical question: who can be trusted to build and manage our most sensitive systems? Vendor choices, for everything from cloud infrastructure to identity platforms, are no longer just …
When an Australian patrol aircraft met a Chinese jet over the South China Sea last month, the encounter quickly moved beyond airspace to digital space. Beijing’s subsequent coordinated online campaign shows that information operations are …
Whoever controls the production and processing of lithium, copper and other critical minerals could dominate the 21st century economy, much as producers of fossil fuels defined the 20th century, writes Ernest Scheyder in his book …
Australia stands at a crossroads where ambition, fiscal restraint and strategic necessity intersect. The Future Made in Australia agenda, once a rallying cry for sovereign capability and clean-energy transformation, is now the test case for …
China’s sudden scramble to court Honduras before the country’s 30 November election shows how quickly China reacts when its influence is under threat. China’s recent purchase of shrimp, invitations for Congress members to visit China, …
The Indo-Pacific is entering an age of autonomy. Uncrewed systems are transforming how nations project power, manage crises and sustain deterrence. For middle powers such as South Korea and Australia, the spread of autonomous defence …
The frequency with which Australia’s director-general of security now addresses the public should give us pause. Before Director-General Mike Burgess, leaders of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) rarely spoke beyond closed briefings. Today, those …
Recent bilateral and multilateral initiatives show a clear acceleration in India–Australia critical minerals engagement. This growth has been characterised by government memorandums of understanding, tariff-reducing trade agreements, joint research hubs and cross-border industry investments. Both …
Australia should consider implementing a wall of drones to its north, to enhance its strategy of denial, consistent with its unique strategic and operational circumstances. Such a drone wall would contribute to the Australian Defence …
Debate about immigration isn’t inherently a problem. Open, informed discussion is how democracies test their values, balance economic needs and manage social cohesion. But when that debate becomes a proxy for malign motivations and is …
While new books offer topicality, occasionally it pays to revisit the classics for a reality check on the essentials of continuity and change. Published 60 years ago, TB Millar’s Australia’s Defence is one such seminal …
Leadership today is too often confused with visibility. But being seen isn’t the same as being effective. In northern Australia, where the challenges are uniquely complex and the solutions must be collaborative, performative politics cannot …
Modern defence capability no longer begins with submarines or fighters. It begins with infrastructure. Data centres, subsea fibre, sovereign cloud enclaves and globally distributed computing capacity are now essential to how militaries plan, move, fight …
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s firm and ideological leadership style marks a new phase in Japan’s foreign policy: outward-looking and prepared to defend a rules-based order that directly serves its interests. For Washington, that makes Tokyo …
Alarmism makes for powerful headlines, but it’s a poor basis for strategy. Claims that Pacific island nations are at risk of becoming ‘narco-states’ may have captured attention in the past few weeks, but they risk …
Engagement between Australia and the United States on critical minerals has matured from technical cooperation into a strategic partnership, aligning resource security with clean energy and defence priorities. Both governments recognise the urgency of diversifying …
Australia’s escalating geostrategic threats demand more than military might. They require a resilient, united and proactive civil defence framework. The Defence Strategic Review says, ‘Defence must be the force of last resort for domestic aid …
The latest personnel changes in the Chinese military show that Xi Jinping is seeking to tighten control by bringing its political apparatus under the authority of its disciplinary arm. The appointments also demonstrate his ongoing …
