In this collection of interviews, former Defence ministers from both sides of Australian politics give their views on topics ranging from the complexity of dealing with a massive department, to the grief they shared with families at the funerals of slain soldiers. The pieces are drawn from transcripts with former ASPI executive director Peter Jennings and links to the original video interviews are available in the posts on The Strategist site.

The former ministers interviewed include:

• Kim Beazley
• Ian McLachlan
• Brendan Nelson
• Joel Fitzgibbon
• Stephen Smith
• David Johnston
• Kevin Andrews
• Christopher Pyne
• Linda Reynolds
• Peter Dutton