Two recent news stories say it all. On the 4th of April the Sydney Morning Herald carried a report of an interview with Jens Stoltenberg, the Secretary General of NATO, in which he claimed that Australia was a vital partner in the organisation’s campaign to confront the security challenges posed by China and in particular Continue reading »
Defence and Security
The real reason for the AUKUS submarine deal might well have been the U.S. wish for a port and base in Australia from where it can send its own nuclear submarines to harass China. The offer to Australia to buy nuclear submarines was likely only made to remove Australian public resistance to the stationing of Continue reading »
The most consequential aspect of AUKUS is it embeds the UK and the US firmly into Australia’s Indo-Pacific strategy. But what if the secret US calculation behind AUKUS is to goad China into war before China’s superiority outpaces US and allied capabilities? A war that China does not want and will likely lose? Meeting in Continue reading »
Historically, it used to be clear when one country was at war with another. Not so today. Indeed, that is one of the Department of Defence’s objections to war powers reform, where it stated in its submission to the Armed Overseas Conflict Inquiry that “the growth of grey-zone activities and offensive operations in the space Continue reading »
Australia has only a few months of fuel reserves and we are on the edge of a technological revolution in transport. So in a strategic sense anything we could do to secure our fuel reserves or find alternatives to petroleum based fuels would make us more secure. Australia has all the raw materials to manufacture Continue reading »
On matters of war and defence, government executives and journo elites are exclusive and elusive. They’re all too happy that peace is a fleeting pause between wars; to replenish ammunitions, the pockets of arms manufacturers and the ego of America. Like rockstars called on tour they trash the hotel room, take advantage of their fan Continue reading »
Australia is an advanced parliamentary democracy, but the Prime Minister and cabinet members decide whether Australia is to go to war. Parliament is like the ghost of Cinderella with no formal voice in it. This is a historical hangover, a part of the “royal prerogative,” passed on from the monarch to the government of the Continue reading »
It is all but finalised. Australia has handcuffed itself, essentially in perpetuity, to the United States. As a result, Australia’s future is inextricably intertwined with the future of the United States. One of the first steps in any military planning activity is to conduct an ‘own troops’ analysis, to identify the strengths and weaknesses of Continue reading »
Perhaps Australia should play the “long game”, and do everything we can to avoid a war in the Pacific, not just work out how we might take part in one. Despite all the war talk in our media about the need to arm against China, be prepared for conflict, etc, in a recent interview the Continue reading »
Serious questions must be asked about conflicts of interest among Australian government advisors in both AUKUS and the Defence Strategic Review. Under the Morrison government, the US, in keeping with its strategic objective of strengthening its alliances in the Indo-Pacific, stepped up its efforts to bolster support within Australia for the bilateral relationship – especially Continue reading »