Best of 2022: Defence Strategic Review - Read all about it

John Menadue

Best of 2022: Defence Strategic Review - Read all about it

December 30, 2022

According to the terms of reference Defence Security Review is now required to ensure that Defence has the right capabilities that are postured to meet the growing strategic challenges that Australia and its partner countries will face in the world in coming years.

A repost from September 13, 2022, and has been updated on November 26, 2022

The remit of the Defence Strategic Review is to consider the priority of investment in Defence capabilities and assess the Australian Defence Forces structure, posture and preparedness in order to optimise Defence capability and posture to meet the nations security challenges over the period 2023-24 to 2032-33 and beyond.

Worryingly, the government has announced that both the interim report delivered to the government by the independent leads at the beginning of November, and the public submissions invited for the review, will not be released to the public.

There are few more important matters that government deals with than Australias national security. Principles of government transparency and participatory democracy demand that the public should see these inputs into government decisionmaking on the future of Australias defence policy.

Pearls and Irritations is not aware of any defendable case made by the government to justify keeping the public submissions or interim report of the Defence Strategic Review secret.

We are running a series of articles that focus on the key issues of the Defence Strategic Review (DSR) which is headed by Sir Angus Houston and the Hon. Stephen Smith. Our articles put a lens on the changing world order from uni-polar to multi-polar; the risks of our strategic relationships with the USA in particular and with AUKUS, and the ongoing fallacy that China is a threat to Australia.

You can find our series of articles compiled here:

Author: John Menadue

https://publish.pearlsandirritations.com/the-defence-strategic-review-and-the-loss-of-australias-strategic-autonomy-to-the-us/

Author: Brian Toohey

https://publish.pearlsandirritations.com/the-defence-strategic-review-the-biggest-threats-war-and-global-warming/

Author: Bruce Haigh

https://publish.pearlsandirritations.com/the-defence-strategic-review-the-insiders-will-just-tinker-around-the-edges/

Author: Joseph Camilleri

https://publish.pearlsandirritations.com/will-the-defence-strategic-review-question-the-china-phobia-that-currently-holds-sway/

Author: Geoff Miller

https://publish.pearlsandirritations.com/the-defence-strategic-review-we-should-regard-the-taiwan-issue-as-one-for-us-to-sit-out/

Author: Mike Scrafton