Less Security Dependence

July 21, 2025

Good article by Paddy Gourley in the July 19 P&I. With luck America will force Australia to finally adopt a more independent security posture and capability. They have voted for Trump, twice and the world is different even if many remain in denial. Surely we must avoid being dragged into another fruitless conflict following our Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq mark 2 experiences. We have to believe we can do it as do most other countries around the world. And the Europeans are now doing as NATO is being unilaterally changed. To achieve similar national security to what we now believe we have, we will probably have to increase defence spending but as Gourley says we can put more emphasis on diplomacy, trade and people to people contact. We do value the UN and its Charter and we do respect international law. The government should update the 2013 National Security Strategy, although accelerated implementation of the 2024 National Defence Strategy without AUKUS Pillar 1 and its associated chains, would be a good step.