Renewing police connections in the Pacific

Australia should invest in strengthening its support and connections with policing in the Pacific to improve social stability on troubled islands and prevent China offering to fill a security void to pursue its own expansionist agenda.

Resilience in Australian agriculture

Prioritising the right places to invest in national resilience will be challenging, but shoring up the resilience of our food production to reduce vulnerabilities is a logical place to start.

Rebuilding social cohesion and national resilience

The Federal Department of Home Affairs should build on its new agenda by developing and deploying a national strategy for social cohesion and government trust.

Bank erosion

The growing exodus of international banks from the Pacific is leaving many Islanders without access to the safe, reliable financial services they need.

Magnesium chains can’t take the strain

Globalisation in one form or another is no doubt here to stay, but the age of predictable, reliable supply chains is over.

Fuel woes highlight resilience problem

Australia’s just-in-time approach to fuel supplies and the gradual decline in onshore refining left the nation vulnerable to international supply shocks which short term measures like fuel subsidies do nothing to counter.

Beyond the Solomon’s blame game

The Chinese government have bribed their way into a ‘security agreement’ with the Solomon Islands which will inevitably lead to a military base directly threatening Australia’s security. Rather than bicker over blame, both the Coalition and Labor must take action to protect the region from further Chinese incursion.

Supply-chain lessons from the COVID years

The government needs to promote discussions with the private sector about supply-chain resilience, nation-building and sovereignty to ensure the lessons learned over the last two years lead to action in the future.

The return of hard borders

All those in the travel and tourism industry waiting with bated breath for a ‘return to normal’ once international borders are opened to tourists once again may be in for a rude shock.

Are drugs a health or legal problem?

Australia’s federal, state and territory governments see illicit drug addiction as a law enforcement, rather than a health issue, but targeting supply alone is not a winning strategy.

Climate activism requires a nuanced security response

Governments can ill afford to ignore climate protests or treat them in a heavy-handed manner. It’s time for genuine public discourse on this issue before the situation deteriorates and further erodes social cohesion.

Amnesties could help solve Australia’s Covid-related migration shortfall

With Australia’s international borders now almost hermetically sealed, perhaps it’s time to bring the cohort of illegal non-citizens out of the shadows by offering them an amnesty to become full members of our communities.