Australia’s election silences call for mandatory debates

A federal election debates commission should be created to ensure debates become a permanent, scheduled element of every federal election.

Hail, the President of Parliament

Australia’s Prime Minister won re-election with a Presidential approach, but he will still have to negotiate a careful path in power given his razor thin margin of victory.

The telling silences of this election campaign

Political parties try to choose the ground on which they fight, but amid the hustle and bustle of the election campaign there are some tricky issues which neither party wants to face.

Australia and Indonesia can strengthen ASEAN

Entering ASEAN would help Australia shape the future of South East Asia in concert with the fast growing democracy of Indonesia.

Australia may turn inward at election time, but the big questions won’t go away

The federal election on 18 May will focus on domestic issues, given the broad consensus on foreign policy and defence, but the big international issues facing the nation will command the attention of whichever party wins power.

The uncertain geopolitics of the federal election

The documents released with the recent Federal budget set out a mixed picture of Australia’s place in the world in the run-up to the May election.

Media and broadcasting in the age of hate

The tragic events in Christchurch pose, yet again, agonising questions for journalists as well as politicians and policy makers.

The puzzles of a post-American world

Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ policy is a declaration that the hegemon is declining back to the status of normal big power, worried more about itself than the nature of the international system. Far from making America great again, Donald Trump is the first President of the post-American world.

Imagining Australia’s South Pacific family

What is needed for Australia to step up engagement in the Pacific island region is a sure-footed approach that is based on a firm footing of mutual respect and partnership.

Second track diplomacy could calm Asia’s power struggles

Australia must be nimble and smart as it adheres to the US alliance to ensure its security in the region while simultaneously looking towards Asia on economic and trade issues. Informal second track diplomacy offers a way to negotiate the rocky path ahead.

The new era of great-power competition in the Pacific

The first strategic priority for Australia in the Indo-Pacific is to manage great-power competition. And the central trend of that competition is China’s rapidly growing challenge to US dominance.

The purposes of the Pacific pivot

A ‘Pacific pivot’ that can marry Australia’s strategic needs with the fundamental needs of Pacific peoples will be a policy which benefits all stakeholders and so ensure enduring results.