If a future Prime Minister Dutton was able to get the fuel for a HALEU power station, would you be absolutely confident that he might not want to also dabble in some nuclear weapons procurement as well? A recent Science paper (7/6) highlights one of the potentially disastrous risks the Dutton nuclear plan raises. Recently Continue reading »
Defence and Security
Australians used to be scared off voting Labor by Coalition predictions of debt, deficit, and disaster. Labor used to shame Liberals and Nationals with promises of spending to end child poverty, close the indigenous gap, and create a clever country. All that was before AUKUS. Now, fiscal rectitude and value for taxpayers’ money are forgotten. Continue reading »
On 28 May, a Defending Australia Summit was held in Sydney by “The Australian Newspaper” which showcased three former Australian defence officials who seemed confused by their old age and indulged in ignorant and historically romantic group think. Kim Beazley is a former Australian Minister of Defence and Ambassador to the US, Denis Richardson is Continue reading »
The 2000 residents of Diego Garcia were forcibly removed to make way for a giant US military base. Will the same happen to the 593 Australian residents on the Cocos Islands that lies south of Sumatra in the Indian ocean? The Australian Government has committed over $600 million to the military upgrade of the run-way and support Continue reading »
Students have established solidarity encampments at 11 universities in Australia since April 23rd when the first camp was established at the University of Sydney. Many of these students have for the last 7 months been watching a continuous stream of war crimes and their aftermaths on Tiktok and Instagram, uploaded by Gazans enduring horrific conditions. Continue reading »
I sometimes see people expressing bafflement that the US would back a genocide in the middle east knowing that it will radicalise the region against them, mistakenly thinking this goes against US strategic goals. And I always want to say to them, uh, have you been asleep the last quarter century? Have you not seen Continue reading »
Imagine being Tony Blinken, and facing the arduous responsibility as US Secretary of State to rule the globe! This seems a daunting task, but fortunately, Blinken doesn’t have to strain his brain too much because he has a manual already written to instruct him. This manual is called The Grand Chessboard. It tutors you to Continue reading »
Labor’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has a strange attraction to muddying the political waters in areas that are going well, such as its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Serious gains are already occurring in the efficiency of battery storage of electricity from solar, wind and pumped hydro sources. Bigger gains seem likely as breakthroughs Continue reading »
With Australian defence writers now arguing for society to be reimagined as an ‘input to defence capability’, we are witnessing further incursions in the Democracy – Defence Nexus. A recent article appearing on the website of Defence Connect claims a discovery: the identification of Australian society as a “fundamental input to defence capability.” In a Continue reading »
In an essay entitled “Australia’s Choice” published in Australian Foreign Affairs in 2022, the leading Singaporean commentator on international relations, Kishore Mahbubani, highlighted how Australia needed to choose whether to be “a bridge between East and West in the Asian Century – or the tip of a spear projecting Western power into Asia” It transpires Continue reading »