In the second of a two-part series, Peter Briggs examines the decommissioning, dismantling and waste-disposal risks Australia will inherit from AUKUS reactors. (more…)
Category: Defence
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Climate, not China, is the Pacific’s real security threat
Australia and New Zealand warn about China’s missile test while spending billions on military integration and lagging on the climate threat facing Pacific neighbours. (more…)
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Before the AUKUS submarines arrive, Australia inherits the risks – part one
In the first of a two-part series, Peter Briggs examines the technical and security risks of relying on highly enriched uranium and an unproven British reactor design for AUKUS submarines. (more…)
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Who restrains power when power refuses restraint? – Message from the Editor
Across this week’s pieces on P&I, the same question keeps appearing: who or what restrains power when the powerful decide restraint is optional? (more…)
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How big is the wolf? China in the Pacific
China’s Pacific missile test deserves scrutiny, but it should be understood in the context of decades of naval development and deterrence, not treated as proof of an imminent threat.
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Australia’s new architecture in the Pacific should include China
Vulnerable Pacific Island states should have the freedom to keep their options open rather than being locked into collective defence alliances that are erroneously based on containing China. (more…)
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The hypersonic hypocrisy of Pacific nuclear politics
Australia and New Zealand rightly criticise China’s nuclear-capable missile tests in the Pacific. Their silence on repeated US tests exposes a glaring double standard. (more…)
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Defence policy deserves more than slogans and selective history
Pat Conroy’s speech at the National Press Club was not a convincing presentation of the ALP’s record on defence. (more…)
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Diversifying the critical minerals supply chain
Reducing dependence on China in the world’s critical mineral supply chain doesn’t require building a separate market. The trading system must find a balance between defence interests and the push for decarbonisation. (more…)
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Australia should take another look at France’s nuclear submarines
The choice between high- and low-enriched uranium submarines will shape Australia’s nuclear security, waste and non-proliferation obligations for generations. (more…)
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Fraser, Whitlam, Albanese and national sovereignty
Malcolm Fraser and Gough Whitlam both warned against surrendering Australian sovereignty to US military and intelligence interests, but AUKUS and the Albanese government’s foreign policy have deepened that dependence. (more…)
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We are spending billions on war and pennies on peace
Investing in the prevention of conflict is a better way to ensure a safer and more prosperous future than money spent preparing for and fighting wars. (more…)
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The AUKUS mirage: why Australia needs a pragmatic pivot to Plan B
Australia still needs nuclear-powered submarines for long-range sea denial, but the current AUKUS pathway is too slow and risky, making a locally built conventional fleet essential to avoid a dangerous capability gap.
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The tragedy of AUKUS
In his submission to the AUKUS Public Inquiry, Joe Camilleri argues revoking AUKUS must be part of wider reassessment of Australia’s place in the world. (more…)
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The questions Hanson was not made to answer
Pauline Hanson’s National Press Club address gave the media a chance to test One Nation’s claims on racism, public broadcasting, nuclear power, AUKUS, defence spending and foreign policy – but too many of the hardest questions went unasked. (more…)
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AUKUS and democracy: why both matter
A Commissioner on the Public Inquiry into AUKUS responds to Waleed Aly’s view that the inquiry will have no impact. (more…)
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The case against the AUKUS submarine project
In a submission to the public inquiry into AUKUS, former foreign minister Gareth Evans argues the submarine project is not in Australia’s national interest, warning that doubts over delivery, excessive cost and loss of sovereign agency demand an urgent Plan B. (more…)
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Hanson, Morrison and Trump: lies, fear, and how to fight back – Message from the Editor
Fear and panic aren’t just bad in themselves; they often lead to stasis. (more…)
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AUKUS and the case for no submarines
The case for AUKUS rests on treating submarines as essential to Australian sovereignty, while ignoring the broader defence capabilities that already protect Australia’s maritime approaches and raise serious questions about whether new submarines are needed at all. (more…)
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Trump goes shopping in the US Indian Ocean Island chain
President Trump is reportedly wanting to buy the Chagos Islands from Mauritius as his way of securing control of Diego Garcia. First, the United Kingdom must hand back their sovereignty. (more…)
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Technology unravels strategy and the weakness of AUKUS
Developments in technology, their consequences for strategic policy and challenges in sustaining Australia’s submarine warfare capability are the ultimate challenges to AUKUS. (more…)
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The Kentucky colonel who drives Australian foreign policy
Australia’s foreign policy is being distorted by AUKUS, militarised thinking and a misplaced faith in US power, when the country should be rebuilding its diplomatic strength as an independent middle power. (more…)
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Undersea warfare is moving faster than AUKUS
Rapid advances in lithium-metal battery systems, all-electric submarines and autonomous underwater vehicles are reshaping undersea warfare well before Australia is likely to deploy an operational nuclear-powered submarine force. (more…)
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That sinking feeling – Message from the Editor
Sometimes you just have to wait.
I’m not a very patient person, but I have learned two things about patience and persistence:
the hard, really important stuff never comes quickly; and
issues run in cycles. If you don’t hit the finish line this time, hang on: there will almost certainly be another opportunity. (more…)
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The Virginia-class submarine deal exposes the real purpose of AUKUS
The shift to second-hand Virginia-class submarines exposes the deeper flaw in AUKUS: Australia is committing vast public funds to a capability designed around US strategic priorities rather than Australia’s own defence needs.
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Second-hand submarines: a sovereign flaw
The decision to acquire three secondhand Virginia-class submarines resolves a major fleet standardisation issue, but it also deepens Australia’s dependence on US industrial capacity, British delivery schedules and political decisions beyond its control.
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Middle-power diplomacy
How effectively middle powers can work together to sustain a rules-based order will depend on how they manage their different relations with the US, China and Russia. (more…)
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Our intelligence services need to break free from excessive US influence
Australia is part of the white man’s intelligence network, Five Eyes. That means too much CIA input into anti-China perceptions in recent years. It also helped bring down the Whitlam government. (more…)
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Lifting the secrecy around plans to censor journalists
Australian officials have been briefed by Britain’s Defence and Security Media Advisory (DSMA) Committee about ‘D-Notices’. These are ‘advisory orders’ to the media on what the committee considers should not be published in relation to British military and intelligence operations.
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Is Australia America’s 51st state in Asia?
Both Labor and the Coalition are deepening Australia’s alignment with the United States, even as doubts grow about AUKUS, the rules-based order and the risks of being drawn into a US-China conflict. (more…)