Looking for a fair wind: Reflections on Australia’s maritime security
Australians may miss out on opportunities to reinforce our regional security if they are over-concerned about Chinese aggression in the South Pacific and do not take the opportunity of engaging in regional dialogue to resolve common problems.
Recent articles in Defence
13 April 2025
Submarines are not instruments of peace: A Quaker’s response to Australia’s strategic obsession
Rear Admiral Peter Briggs’ recent defence of submarines offers a polished, strategic case for Australia’s continued investment in this kind of military hardware – especially nuclear-powered ones.
12 April 2025
AUKUS turning point – Sydney Morning Herald calls for review
Since the AUKUS deal was signed in 2021 Pearls and Irritations has led a high-profile debate on the $368 billion deal, questioning whether it serves our interests. This week we saw a significant turning point. An editorial in the Sydney Morning Herald calls on the Australian Government to follow the UK lead, and launch an inquiry into the deal. Below is the full text of the editorial.
10 April 2025
To Australia’s 'realists': Gnothi seauton (Know yourself)
In international relations, realism is a theory that views world politics as a competition among self-interested states vying for power and security within an anarchic global system, emphasising national interests and the potential for conflict.
9 April 2025
AUKUS on track? No, Australia needs Plan B now
Last Monday’s AUKUS Security forum at the National Press Club heard arguments of those seeking to support the status quo. It was argued that criticism undermines AUKUS and risks turning the possibility that the US will not be able to spare Virginia class SSNs for sale to Australia from an ‘if’ to certainty.
5 April 2025
AUKUS – the bucktooth cousin hidden in election blather
In French, buck teeth are called dents à l'anglaise, literally English teeth. Stay with me. The connection to the old dart, France, and the dishonourable origins of AUKUS will be revealed.
4 April 2025
Keating says Trump’s tariffs mean death knell for NATO and ANZUS
Former Australian prime minister Paul Keating says Donald Trump’s neo-Monroeism has made it clear that America now calls only the Western hemisphere home.
1 April 2025
Time to split from sugar daddy
Last week, I listened to Stuart Rees and Sue Wareham, two regular contributors to P&I, discuss kindness and cruelty in public policy.
31 March 2025
The Sisyphean task of the Royal Australian Navy to maintain and operate the submarine capability
How will the Royal Australian Navy, the federal government, and the Australian defence industrial base support three submarine classes concurrently: the Collins Class life of type extension (LOTE), the Virginia class sustainment support, and the design and construction of the AUKUS Class nuclear-powered submarines? My assessment, this is an insoluble task.
31 March 2025
Time to call it. The US doesn't give a stuff for us
Despite 80 years of Australian unwavering loyalty, as expected the US, our closest ally, is now screwing us on tariffs, with a hefty 25% tariff placed on Australian steel and aluminium exports.
29 March 2025
Why does Australia need submarines?
Why submarines? The submarine’s most fundamental, key feature is its stealth. A well-handled, submarine is able to operate without causing fuss, in areas where we do not control the sea or air and gain access to areas denied to more overt platforms, such as ships, aircraft and unmanned aircraft.
29 March 2025
AUKUS: Many chickens but no subs
John Menadue recently argued convincingly that the “AUKUS chickens were coming home to roost already”. Shortly thereafter, the Guardian helpfully reported that a “Trump pick for the Pentagon says selling submarines to Australia would be ‘crazy’ if Taiwan tensions flare”.
