Hugh White’s new book warns that declining US power and China’s rise are remaking Asia, while Australia remains dangerously attached to old assumptions about American protection. (more…)
Category: Defence
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AUKUS is a $368 billion gamble Australia does not need to take
US production shortfalls, Britain’s submarine crisis and Australia’s own infrastructure delays are eroding the assumptions behind AUKUS. It’s time to take a different path. (more…)
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AUKUS and our strategic independence
AUKUS raises fundamental questions about Australia’s sovereignty, military dependence and place in Asia – and whether greater strategic independence could offer a more secure and peaceful path for the nation. (more…)
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Nolan’s The Odyssey and the moral blindness of power
Christopher Nolan’s *The Odyssey* offers a warning for modern powers: military strength means little when nations abandon restraint, moral responsibility and shared humanity. (more…)
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America’s failed wars should be a warning for Australia
America’s record of failed wars exposes the limits of military power and raises serious questions about Australia’s continued reliance on the United States. (more…)
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Is AUKUS a good deal for us?
While calls to sink the AUKUS deal continue to mount in Australia, UK allies maintain they are “fully supportive” of the $368 billion defence pact.
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The lessons of Long Tan
Sixty years after the Battle of Long Tan, a simple Canberra commemoration offered a more thoughtful kind of remembrance – one that honours the dead on all sides and questions the mythology of victory. (more…)
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The French lesson: why Australia should take another look at LEU
France’s experience with low-enriched uranium submarines challenges claims that Australia would have to send vessels overseas for reactor support, while offering lessons in fleet availability, sovereign maintenance and crewing. (more…)
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Shadow flights: Australia’s F-35 parts pipeline to Israel now runs through the US
Leaked shipping records show Australian F-35 parts continuing to reach Israel on passenger aircraft, with shipments now routed through the United States rather than Thailand. (more…)
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AUKUS Pillar One, part two: The nuclear dilemma – acquiring a sustainable, sovereign undersea capability
In the second of a two-part series, the focus turns to nuclear stewardship. AUKUS would leave Australia responsible for weapons-grade uranium throughout the submarine lifecycle, while lower-enriched alternatives may offer a safer and more sovereign path. (more…)
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AUKUS Pillar One, part one: The nuclear dilemma – strategic and operational concerns
In the first of a two-part series, AUKUS is examined as a strategic choice, not simply a procurement program. The planned submarines are designed for US-led coalition warfare rather than a self-reliant defence of Australia. (more…)
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AUKUS Infrastructure, part 7: Sorting the submarine source and sustainment stalemate
In part seven of the AUKUS infrastructure series, the focus turns to Henderson, where fragmented planning risks locking Australia into costly nuclear bottlenecks before construction has properly begun. (more…)
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Chinese Australians a largely silent constituency in the AUKUS Debate
In this abridged submission to the public inquiry into AUKUS, Wanning Sun warns that the pact’s securitisation of China is discouraging Chinese Australians from political participation and constraining academic freedom. (more…)
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What courage looks like: David McBride walks free
David McBride has emerged from prison after paying an extraordinary personal price for exposing information about alleged war crimes. His case should leave Australia with more than gratitude – it should leave lasting whistleblower reform. (more…)
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The UN cannot be left to starve while military spending soars
Global military spending is soaring while the United Nations faces financial crisis, even as conflicts rise and the need for cooperative security becomes more urgent. (more…)
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Are US subs really temporary visitors?
Pat Conroy’s assurances about US submarines at HMAS Stirling raise more questions than they answer about rotation, sovereignty, nuclear ambiguity and Australia’s control of its own naval base. (more…)
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Trump’s vanity battleship exposes AUKUS reactor problem
The planned nuclear-powered Trump-class battleship could place further pressure on already stretched US naval reactor supply chains, adding to doubts about Australia’s chances of receiving Virginia-class submarines. (more…)
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AUKUS Infrastructure, part 6: It is not too late to change course
In the final part of a six-part series on AUKUS infrastructure, Peter Briggs argues that Pillar 1 cannot deliver on schedule or budget, and that Australia should pause its HEU pathway and assess proven LEU alternatives. (more…)
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AUKUS infrastructure, part 5: The HEU problem
In the fifth of a six-part series on AUKUS infrastructure, the choice of highly enriched uranium raises questions about proliferation, safety, waste, regulation and the civil burden placed on Australian shipyards. (more…)
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Picturing armageddon: Will Trump listen to the next nuclear war film?
Films about nuclear war have often been dismissed by officials as inaccurate, alarmist or merely fictional, but their real power lies in forcing audiences to confront the madness of nuclear annihilation. (more…)
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The Pentagon is burning the bridge before building the road
The US is worried about dependence on Chinese critical minerals, but its rushed deadline ignores the years of investment, infrastructure and allied cooperation needed to rebuild industrial capacity. (more…)
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AUKUS infrastructure, part 3: The Osborne construction enterprise
In the third of a six-part series on AUKUS infrastructure, Osborne’s submarine yard is making visible progress, but unfunded stages, nuclear licensing, supply-chain dependence and the absence of an embedded graving dock pose major risks.
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The myth of a joint Pine Gap
While Washington sets the priorities and commands decision-making, Australian operational staff at the base are outnumbered by Australian ‘guards and gardeners’. (more…)
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AUKUS Infrastructure, part 2: The Henderson bottleneck
In the second of a six-part series on AUKUS infrastructure, the focus shifts to Henderson, where fragmented land tenure, commercial disruption and regulatory delays could block the facilities needed to sustain nuclear-powered submarines. (more…)
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AUKUS infrastructure, part 1: The docking gap that could sink Pillar 1
The first in a six-part series examines the maintenance reality behind AUKUS Pillar 1, and the looming risk that Australia may receive Virginia-class submarines before it has certified infrastructure to dock and sustain them. (more…)
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Albanese sees the problem. Labor still cannot name the system
Anthony Albanese acknowledged structural problems in the economy at its National Conference, but Labor still treats capitalism as a system to be repaired rather than transformed. (more…)
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The US shipyard crisis sinking AUKUS
With more than a third of the US fast-attack submarine fleet sidelined by maintenance delays, the assumptions behind AUKUS Pillar 1 are looking less credible by the year.
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The fantasy world of Hegseth’s testosterone bomb
Pete Hegseth’s testosterone militarism and calls to escalate against Iran reveal the dangerous fantasies shaping US war thinking. (more…)
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Australia has served in Africa but failed to learn from it
Australia has contributed to African peacekeeping missions for decades, but that record has rarely translated into sustained policy knowledge or engagement.
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AUKUS is being exposed, but will anything change?
Evidence to the public inquiry into AUKUS is exposing risks around nuclear accidents, sovereignty, jobs, waste and Australia’s role as a US military base. (more…)