This report gives greater access to the complex workings of the Defence budget to help promote informed debate on Defence budget issues. After four years of cuts, defence spending is on the rise again. But the growth is occurring from a low base, and in absolute terms funding remains well below what was promised back...

Australia recognises the critical role that the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons plays in preventing uncontrolled proliferation and promoting disarmament, and upholding the treaty has long been a core foreign policy goal. However Australia's disarmament diplomacy has hit a difficult patch. This paper proposes a way forward, focusing primarily on the Non-Proliferation and...

Recapping the dramatic Whitlam-Nixon openings to China of the 1970s—in which he participated—Ross Terrill’s new study finds themes for China policy today. Our Asia–Pacific region prospers, but the seas off China are not tranquil. American policies protect Australia, but they worry some Australians. Whitlam and Nixon cancelled decades of war in the Asia–Pacific, ushering in...

This paper argues that Australia does not have an interest in officially signing up to AirSea Battle at this point. As part of America’s ‘rebalance’ towards the Asia–Pacific region, Australia’s most important ally is reconsidering its military posture to deal with China’s growing ‘anti‑access/area‑denial’ (A2/AD) capability, which is gradually eroding America’s maritime dominance in the...

This report argues that the downstream implications of climate change are forcing Defence to become involved in mitigation and response tasks. Defence’s workload here will increase, so we need a new approach. Heavy Weather makes a number of recommendations including: Defence should work with the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Department...