My new report prepared for Friends of the Earth Australia demonstrates that the development of a nuclear-powered, conventionally-armed nuclear submarine fleet entails multiple public health risks and would inevitably suffer from delays and cost-blowouts. (more…)
Category: Defence
-
Layered perversion of Australia’s defence policy
An amazing thing has happened. Our taxpayer-funded think-tank Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) has commissioned analysis by Robert Macklin which shows that the public debate on Australia’s defence has been biased. (more…)
-
Hiroshima anniversary – RAAF flying boat vs atom bomb
In World War II, did Aussie airmen in slow old flying boats do more to stop Japan than America’s atomic bombs – and leave a lesson for today? (more…)
-
US Senate Dems vote to block arms sales to Israel – the tide is turning, says Bernie Sanders
“The American people do not want to spend billions to starve children in Gaza,” said Senator Bernie Sanders. “The Democrats are moving forward on this issue, and I look forward to Republican support in the near future.” (more…)
-
US integration of Pacific allies into war plans must be opposed
The United States is increasing its military footprint on Australia and Pacific and Pacific Rim countries as it prepares for war against China. (more…)
-
Britain’s back, China’s the target. We’ll likely pay the price again
Britain’s HMS Prince of Wales has docked in Darwin, flanked by other warships and declarations. (more…)
-
What about the RAAF in the AUKUS equation?
All the commentary about AUKUS is predicated on some kind of conflict with China over Taiwan. That is foolishness personified. But there is another factor that is even more bewildering. Both sides of the argument appear to have forgotten the existence of the RAAF. (more…)
-
Let’s (not) choose sides and fight
It would be harder to stoke homicidal zeal if everyone understood that behind all our hostilities is the simple, though stark, reality that humanity faces climate change and resource depletion. (more…)
-
Time for Foreign Minister Wong to put her foot down
In an ideal world, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) should be the government’s principal agency in seeing that relations with other countries best serve Australia’s interests. (more…)
-
Despite denials, Australia has exported F-35 parts to Israel
Leaked documents show Canberra has been supplying Israel with the means to maintain F-35 fighter jets so it can continue its genocidal campaign in Gaza, Peter Cronau and Kellie Tranter report. (more…)
-
A memo to Albo on nuclear weapons
Sent by People for Nuclear Disarmament and the Human Survival Project
To Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, the Parliamentary Committees on Foreign Affairs and Defence and DFAT.
(more…) -
Donald Trump and his minions may yet do us a favour in ending AUKUS
The US must be told that we will not be involved in any way and at any time in a war with China over Taiwan. (more…)
-
Trump wants us to spend a bomb on defence. We should think twice
While I was on holiday, I had a kind of nightmare: suddenly, every rich country in the world — including us — is vowing to spend many billions more on defence each year. This will cost taxpayers an absolute bomb. Why exactly are we doing this? (more…)
-
The Western allies of the US as vassal states
A vassal state is one that retains some autonomy at home but is effectively dominated by another power in its foreign affairs. (more…)
-
How spending more on defence harms the nation
Anthony Albanese is taking a battering from ill-informed commentators for thinking Australia can be defended by spending a little over 2% of GDP on its military forces. (more…)
-
AUKUS project has worsened Australia’s ties with China
I have argued elsewhere (Asia Sentinel, 24/5/2025) that five factors could throw the US$245 billion AUKUS deal off balance following the recent decision by Washington to review the deal. (more…)
-
Why Asia-Pacific should be rooting for Iran
Setting aside any thoughts I may have about theocratic rulers (whether they be in Tel Aviv or Tehran), I am personally glad that Iran was able to hold out against the US-Israeli attacks this month. (more…)
-
Iran’s internet blackout left people in the dark. How does a country shut down the internet?
In recent days, Iranians experienced a near-complete internet blackout, with local service providers — including mobile services — repeatedly going offline. Iran’s Government has cited cyber security concerns for ordering the shutdown. (more…)
-
Is Albo reverting to compulsive secrecy?
Anthony Albanese is falling back into the sort of bad habits that could bring him down as Labor leader. (more…)
-
AUKUS submarines would be obsolete before Australia gets them
Before the drawings have been completed, new detection technology has already made RN SSN AUKUS obsolete. (more…)
-
Strategic security partnerships in the region
In reading analyses of how we can develop the seemingly logical argument by Paul Keating and others that Australia should be seeking its security in Asia rather than from Asia, the issue of official and personal contact in building such ties always seems to be neglected. (more…)
-
Goodbye to all that? Rethinking Australia’s alliance with Trump’s America
Even the most ardent supporters of the alliance with the United States — the notional foundation of Australian security for more than 70 years — must be having some misgivings about the second coming of Donald Trump. (more…)
-
Not yet born: America at the crossroads
On a threatening June evening, America’s army turned 250 and put on a show that revealed more than it intended. (more…)
-
Australia: A sovereign continent not for Marles to gift away
Yesterday’s statement by Defence Minister Richard Marles that Australia’s geography and continent would be crucial to any United States prosecution of a war against China will go down as a dark moment in Australia’s history. (more…)
-
Hugh White: Why the AUKUS ‘dream’ was never realistic and is likely to die
The first clear sign the Trump administration was taking a long hard look at AUKUS came two weeks ago, when US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth gave his first major speech on US strategic policy in Asia at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. (more…)
-
The illegal attack on Iran
Israel’s consistent attacks on Iran since 2023 have all been illegal, violations of the United Nations Charter (1945). (more…)
-
Nuclear subs taking on water
There is every reason for Australia to jump on board the idea of having a review of its AUKUS defence policy. (more…)
-
Is Marles the right fit for defence?
P&I readers don’t need to be told that Defence Minister Richard Marles is floundering when trying to make security links with Indonesia seem as though they’ve “never been in better shape”. (more…)
-
Misgivings in the heart of the defence state
On a quiet Wednesday night in Adelaide recently about 50 people met in a church hall to share concerns about the militarisation of their schools and universities. (more…)
-
Australia’s dependence on the US does not end with Trump
Malcolm Turnbull’s recent Foreign Affairs essay, America’s Allies Must Save Themselves, is a good intervention in the debate about Donald Trump’s impact on global order. (more…)