A Boyer Lecture that misunderstands Australia’s defence history
The latest Boyer Lecture portrays Australia as trapped by anxiety about the United States. In fact, for decades the country pursued a deliberate, bipartisan strategy of defence self-reliance – abandoned only in recent years.
Recent articles in Defence
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US alliance holding us back
Australia's US alliance is preventing the country from signing and ratifying the Treaty for Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, despite overwhelming public support for the government to do so.
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Australians are markedly more worried about the US, but still wary about China
Australians' concerns and mistrust of China are easing, while doubts about the US are increasing.
18 November 2025
Nuclear testing threatens global stability
Gareth Evans, Robert Hill, and Larissa Waters are among the Australian signatories of a statement calling on Trump to clarify that the US will not resume nuclear explosive testing.
14 November 2025
In Ukraine’s Pokrovsk, narratives have collided with brutal realities
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13 November 2025
Another RSL dope wants to draw us into a major war
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10 November 2025
The defence myth
When opponents of the military build-up and critics of the genocide in Palestine went to protest outside the Indo-Pacific Maritime Exposition in Sydney, they were confronted by a huge force of New South Wales police.
10 November 2025
Arms industry infiltrates National Press Club
More than a quarter of the National Press Club’s sponsors are part of the global arms industry or working on its behalf.
8 November 2025
Revealed: Secret plans to introduce media censorship in Australia
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31 October 2025
South Korea, Canada and a middle-power submarine: Can Australia join?
Sometimes, middle-power enthusiasts get overly excited about the potential for said states to work together. It’s almost as if you want to see those “little guys” grab the ball and run it all the way to the try line — or the end zone, for you Americans.
29 October 2025
The unvanquished will: Gaza’s triumph of spirit against the architecture of genocide
For the last two years, my social media algorithm has been relentlessly dominated by Gaza, particularly by the voices of ordinary Gazans, displaying a blend of emotions that centres on two core principles: grief and defiance.
28 October 2025
It's no longer possible to be a Palestinian in the West Bank
In the West Bank, no one has heard about the ceasefire in Gaza: not the army, not the settlers, not the Civil Administration and, of course, not the three million Palestinians who live under their tyranny. They do not feel the end of the war in the slightest.
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More defence spending, please – just not on the military
Donald Trump has pushed the Australian and other governments to increase defence spending. Defending society from threats is important, but there’s more to it than soldiers and weapons.
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