The return of hard borders

All those in the travel and tourism industry waiting with bated breath for a ‘return to normal’ once international borders are opened to tourists once again may be in for a rude shock.

Are drugs a health or legal problem?

Australia’s federal, state and territory governments see illicit drug addiction as a law enforcement, rather than a health issue, but targeting supply alone is not a winning strategy.

Climate activism requires a nuanced security response

Governments can ill afford to ignore climate protests or treat them in a heavy-handed manner. It’s time for genuine public discourse on this issue before the situation deteriorates and further erodes social cohesion.

Amnesties could help solve Australia’s Covid-related migration shortfall

With Australia’s international borders now almost hermetically sealed, perhaps it’s time to bring the cohort of illegal non-citizens out of the shadows by offering them an amnesty to become full members of our communities.

Protecting Australia – and what makes us Australian

Dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic threatens to further fracture and fragment our understanding of civil liberties and national security and how to protect them both.

What should modern nation-building look like?

Rather than one-off investment ‘announceables’, Australia’s post-COVID recovery demands ‘big-picture’ nation-building that offers a vision for the future on the same grand scale as major schemes of the past.

Combating terrorism after COVID-19

The federal government should increase its efforts to prevent radicalisation of disaffected young people in Australia in the wake of COVID-19.

Embracing cloud computing in national security

Policy makers should look beyond current technical security standards to unlock the capability benefit that cloud computing can bring to Australia’s national security.

Improving Australia’s fuel security

Having an offshore national oil reserve may buy Australia time during a supply crisis, but it will do little to address our supply-chain vulnerabilities. Building more facilities in Australia is the only way to protect the nation during future emergencies.

We reap what we sow in terms of national resilience

Covid-19 has shown that market forces aren’t enough to ensure adequate national resilience in myriad areas, and that too much of our preparation for such emergencies was predicated on good luck.

The danger of intelligence ‘scope creep’

While Australians are often hawkish about community safety and border security, they’re far less accepting of their security agencies being given new domestic surveillance powers without government making a strong case for their use.

Ice, ice, baby

Despite some high profile drug-busts, the quantity of methamphetamine (ice) that Australians consume continues to rise.