Only a few weeks ago, it looked as though the extent of Australia’s ambitions for Papua New Guinea’s Lombrum Naval Base, HMPNGS Tarangau, was a $5 million contribution to upgrade the wharf facility. Let’s be …
Sea state A year and two days after Argentinian submarine ARA San Juan went missing in the Atlantic Ocean, it was detected more than 900 metres below sea level off the Valdes Peninsula in Argentine …
Over the past decade, China has taken an increasingly muscular approach to relations with East Asian countries. But in recent months—despite some hiccups in the South Pacific—it has surprised its neighbours with a charm offensive. …
In part 1, I posed the question of what, conceptually, the life-of-type extension (LOTE) for the navy’s Collins-class submarines is. Is it simply an obsolescence-management program, allowing the Collins to degrade more or less gracefully …
The APEC meeting in Port Moresby will have been a shock to Chinese President Xi Jinping, because it showed that his assertive approach to using China’s growing power is now facing fairly broad trouble. This …
The attack on Pearl Harbor is generally seen, by both Americans and Australians, as the most momentous event of December 1941. However, another event occurred three days later that is of much greater significance because …
In Australia, there’s a tendency to see Israel purely through the lens of the Palestinian issue and the peace process. But there’s really no country in the Middle East whose interests are more closely aligned …
Savour that rare headline. The Pacific wins over political argy-bargy. Australia has listened to the South Pacific and done something to discomfit the ‘junior’ member of the governing coalition, the National Party. Another way to …
It takes 15 minutes in a tinny to cross from Australia to Papua New Guinea. Boigu Island in the Torres Strait is less than six kilometres from PNG—‘within a bow shot’, a colonial administrator once …
The world This week’s headlines were dominated by reporting on the centenary of the end of World War I. Armistice commemorations were held across the world. ABC Nightlife reflects on the 100th anniversary in this …
What’s behind the recently announced plans by Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to provide loans and grants for infrastructure projects to the already debt-burdened Pacific island states? Whether it’s to protect …
As a backgrounder to the APEC meeting in Port Moresby this week, we recently set out in The Australian some of the broad maritime and border security issues Papua New Guinea faces. Here we’d like …
This month, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is attending two major regional summits, the East Asia Summit in Singapore and APEC in Papua New Guinea. Between the two summits, Abe is meeting with his Australian …
My recent study, Thinking through submarine transition, examines the long journey from Australia’s current submarine capability consisting of six Collins-class submarines to its future capability to be provided by 12 Shortfin Barracudas. I argue that …
The beat UK’s first unexplained wealth target released on bail Zamira Hajiveya, the first target of the UK’s unexplained wealth orders, has been released on bail while she awaits an extradition hearing over embezzlement charges …
Indonesia and Australia share one of the longest maritime boundaries in the world. They also share a unique bond as neighbours at the maritime crossroads of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The relationship between the …
When it comes to transnational serious and organised crime in the Asia–Pacific, it’s hard not to be pessimistic. At the moment, Southeast Asia is on the brink of a methamphetamine (ice) epidemic, with cheap and …
Australia’s future submarine capability isn’t in a good place. We started the program at least five years too late due to a combination of indifference from successive governments and a lack of drive from the …
The increasing strategic competition between the US and China means one thing for most of the countries in the Asia–Pacific region: it’s going to be harder to respond to a more assertive China that challenges …
On his week-long tour of Asia, US vice president Mike Pence has been promoting a vision of a ‘free and open’ Indo-Pacific region, characterised by unimpeded trade flows, freedom of navigation, and respect for the …