Australia in the World
Helicopter flare up should highlight China’s base instincts
The Chinese air force’s dangerous intercept of a Royal Australian Navy helicopter in the Yellow Sea – what the Defence Department statement calls an “unprofessional interaction”,…
Quantum of silence
For most people, quantum computers are the stuff of science fiction. Based on shooting microwave photons at “qubits”, quantum computers are estimated to be far more powerful than…
PNG-China: What’s to gain in any policing deal?
A report emerged in the Sydney Morning Herald at the weekend that PNG officials made a last-minute decision not to sign a proposed policing agreement with China. This followed…
The Poseidon adventure: Australian diplomacy takes wing
On 22 March, an RAAF P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft arrived on the French island of Réunion for the first time to take part in activities with the French Armed Forces…
Can Solomon Islands’ new prime minister really be friends to all?
“Leading a nation is never an easy task,” said Jeremiah Manele while standing on the steps of Solomon Islands’ National Parliament, moments after he was elected prime minister.
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Australia’s superannuation rules leave Pacific workers out of pocket
More than 40,000 Pacific Islanders working in Australia are being unfairly taxed on superannuation contributions – enforced savings payments that they are already unlikely to ever…
Economic diplomacy: It’s nostalgists vs strategists
New binaries
Australian economic leaders have a double-edged history of trying to redefine their opponents out of the political debate from Paul Keating’s “straightmen, fixers…
Fostering Indigenous cooperation between Australia and Taiwan
It may not be well known in Australia, but Indigenous peoples have lived in Taiwan for more than 5,000 years. Indigenous Taiwanese are part of the Austronesian language family…
Cultivating a healthy information environment
The recent behaviour of some social media companies seems explicitly designed to provoke governments into enacting much more stringent regulation of the sector. Elon Musk’s very…
Australia’s comparative advantage in climate transition
Australia’s $2 billion Southeast Asia Investment Financing Facility (SEAIFF) is a catch-all response to diverse objectives. It was a “deliverable” – or at least an “announcable” –…