Australia in the World
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” –…
As warfare changes, so does Australian strategy
The Australian Defence Minister launched a new National Defence Strategy last week. It is accompanied by a revised Defence Integrated Investment Program (at the same link)…
Ensuring the “Future Made in Australia Act” doesn’t add to a global subsidy arms race
The “Future Made in Australia Act” set out by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signifies a shift from a neoliberal to a mission-driven approach, aiming to tackle grand challenges…
Girt by sea: Redrawing Australia’s mental map
Book Review: Girt by Sea: Re-Imagining Australia’s Security, by Rebecca Strating and Joanne Wallis (La Trobe Press, 2024)
It’s no secret that in recent years, there has…
Is the EU Australia’s blind spot in the Indo-Pacific?
Seen from Australia, the European Union may seem very distant and somehow disconnected from the Indo-Pacific. Yet, the strategic space in which Australia and the European Union…
Economic diplomacy: Made in Australia with new energy
Elbows out
Is there a better case study in the curious politics of geo-economic fragmentation than Australia’s latest effort to revive manufacturing? Prime Minister Anthony…
Is South Korea’s Indo‑Pacific Strategy a diplomatic lame duck?
When South Korea’s Yoon Suk-yeol administration released its Indo-Pacific Strategy in late 2022, many Australian commentators hoped the time had finally come for the…
Western banks are vacating the Pacific, and Nauru is turning to China
Nauru has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Bank of China “to explore solutions and options to its banking issues”.
The China–Nauru MOU will cause further…
Pacific Engagement Visas: New developments but quotas unknown
Australia is surprisingly low-key about the recent launch of its new subclass 192 Pacific Engagement Visa lottery that aims to welcome 3,000 new permanent migrants …