{"id":45626,"date":"2019-02-21T15:17:16","date_gmt":"2019-02-21T04:17:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=45626"},"modified":"2019-02-26T10:35:28","modified_gmt":"2019-02-25T23:35:28","slug":"the-joint-facilities-still-the-jewel-in-the-crown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-joint-facilities-still-the-jewel-in-the-crown\/","title":{"rendered":"The joint facilities: still the jewel in the crown"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

Since the 1980s, Australian defence ministers have made regular parliamentary statements about the roles and functions of the US\u2013Australia joint defence facilities (at Pine Gap, North West Cape and, until 1999, Nurrungar). These are important statements that go to the core of Australia\u2019s alliance relationship with the United States. They are intended to establish that Australian interests are served, and our sovereignty protected, while we jointly pursue intelligence activities with the United States.<\/p>\n

No other parliamentary statements are prepared as carefully as the ones on the joint facilities. Be assured that each word is sweated over because of the highly classified nature of these intelligence operations. It\u2019s worth carefully noting the nuances of the language used, including changes from and similarities to past statements, and considering what is left out of the statement as much as the words delivered.<\/p>\n

Defence Minister Christopher Pyne made his ministerial statement<\/a> on the \u2018Australia\u2013United States joint facilities\u2019 on 20 February. The previous statement<\/a> on \u2018Full knowledge and concurrence\u2019 was delivered six years and five defence ministers ago by Stephen Smith on 26 June 2013. Here are my top 10 takeaways from a close read of Pyne\u2019s statement and of the speech in reply<\/a> by Shadow Defence Minister Richard Marles.<\/p>\n

Stronger regional focus<\/em><\/p>\n

Pyne\u2019s statement is more strongly focused on regional security than previous ones, which tended to locate the work of the joint facilities on the global strategic balance. The current statement links Pine Gap to the security of Australia\u2019s \u2018maritime trade routes\u2019 and says:<\/p>\n

Regional actions have the ability to adversely impact regional security and economic stability. Facilities such as Pine Gap help reduce this risk, in support of the rules based global order, by providing early warning of potentially hostile activities and developments that threaten to destabilise the region.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Rough translation: \u2018China, we are watching you.\u2019 Beijing will also note the line: \u2018Potential adversaries understand that an attack on Australia is an attack on the alliance.\u2019 This is good, solid language, not mincing words about the core strategic purpose of the alliance.<\/p>\n

Solid take on extended nuclear deterrence<\/em><\/p>\n

The statement also strengthens language around Australia\u2019s support for extended nuclear deterrence (END): \u2018global geopolitics have changed, but the core principles of extended nuclear deterrence have not.\u2019 Australia is \u2018an active supporter\u2019 of END through the work of the joint facilities.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s noteworthy that the statement says that US nuclear deterrence deters the possibility of any type of attack on Australia, nuclear or conventional<\/em>. That stands in contrast to the language of the 2017 foreign policy white paper<\/a>, which couldn\u2019t quite bring itself to use the term \u2018extended nuclear deterrence\u2019 and said: \u2018only the nuclear and conventional military capabilities of the United States offer effective deterrence against the possibility of nuclear threats<\/em> [my emphasis] against Australia\u2019. Pyne\u2019s statement gives END a wider role\u2014that\u2019s one in the eye for the arms controllers and one up for the strategists.<\/p>\n

Technology change and deepening cooperation<\/em><\/p>\n

The statement puts more emphasis than its predecessors on the impact of technological change helping the joint facilities to keep pace with a more dynamic strategic environment. The word \u2018change\u2019 is used six times and \u2018innovation\u2019 three times, referring to new \u2018cutting edge\u2019 technologies. It\u2019s difficult in an unclassified statement to do more than hint at these developments and the reality that Australia and the US continue to deepen and broaden their cooperation on innovative intelligence work. That sense of rapid change infuses the statement.<\/p>\n

Puzzling cyber omission<\/em><\/p>\n

Stephen Smith\u2019s 2013 statement did a good job of setting the broader context of alliance activity, of which the joint facilities are a part. For example, he referred to the September 2011 agreement at the AUSMIN meeting in San Francisco that henceforth \u2018a cyber attack on either country would trigger the mechanisms of the ANZUS Treaty\u2019. It\u2019s puzzling that cybersecurity isn\u2019t mentioned in Pyne\u2019s statement. In the very week that the prime minister revealed that a \u2018sophisticated state actor\u2019 had attacked the IT networks of our major political parties, the joint facilities statement could have usefully made the point (as set out in Smith\u2019s statement) that such an act creates an opportunity for Australia and the United States to \u2018consult together and determine appropriate options to address the threat\u2019.<\/p>\n

FK&C\u2014still finger lickin\u2019 good<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018Full knowledge and concurrence\u2019 is the policy framework originally designed by the Hawke government to ensure Australia understands and agrees with the activities undertaken in a joint facility. The language used to describe how this works in practice is identical in the Smith and Pyne statements. The subtlety to this is that Australia claims to understand and endorse categories of activity without necessarily approving each activity.<\/p>\n

Pyne\u2019s statement goes further than previous ones in talking about how FK&C is used to address \u2018any new purpose for any activity, or a significant change to an existing purpose\u2019. There\u2019s a lot of new stuff going on under those golf-ball domes, it seems.<\/p>\n

Terrorism two-step<\/em><\/p>\n

Pyne\u2019s statement (like Smith\u2019s) acknowledges that the joint facilities deliver intelligence \u2018on a range of contemporary security priorities, such as terrorism\u2019. But then we have a rather coy statement that the government couldn\u2019t possibly comment on public theorising that Pine Gap makes a \u2018contribution to US operations against terrorism\u2019. The right language surely is \u2018US and Australian\u2019 operations against terrorism. Is the implication that we gather intelligence on terrorism but do nothing with it? A smoother formulation of words should have been developed.<\/p>\n

Where are the Marines?<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s disappointing that there\u2019s no reference to the US Marine Corps\u2019 rotational deployments in Pyne\u2019s statement. This was fulsomely addressed by Smith, as it should have been, because it reflects a tangible American commitment to the security of Australia and of Southeast Asia. At a time when the region worries about America\u2019s sticking power, the Marine presence should be celebrated loudly, brought in under FK&C and aligned with Australia\u2019s strategic planning for our regional defence engagement.<\/p>\n

Subtle alliance warnings?<\/em><\/p>\n

Pyne\u2019s statement warns that \u2018the alliance and regional stability cannot be taken for granted\u2019. That\u2019s correct, but the success story of the joint facilities shows the enormity of Australia\u2019s strategic problems if the US does indeed turn inward for a period. Without the alliance Australia is way back in the pack of regional defence players. The government and opposition clearly understand that plan A is to do everything to sustain the alliance. But every plan A needs a plan B\u2014thinking through worst-case scenarios is what defence organisations do. So, what\u2019s our plan B?<\/p>\n

Intelligent bipartisanship<\/em><\/p>\n

The Pyne and Smith ministerial statements were made in parliaments just a few months away from elections. In replying to Pyne\u2019s statement, Marles makes it clear that he has visited Pine Gap and seen how it operates. He offers complete bipartisan support for the facilities with the nice phrase that \u2018the performance of those functions almost define Pine Gap as being the centre of trust as it is expressed in our alliance with the United States\u2019. This is a valuable promise of continuity based on genuine cooperation between the major political parties acting as shared custodians of the joint facilities.<\/p>\n

Alliance leadership<\/em><\/p>\n

Like the 2016 defence white paper<\/a>, one finishes reading Pyne\u2019s statement impressed with how much \u2018the alliance has grown in depth and complexity over time\u2019. That growth is apparent in every area but one\u2014the annual AUSMIN meeting remains the sole ministerial-level mechanism to steer the alliance. Can an annual dinner and a six-hour meeting really give momentum and purposeful shape to a rapidly changing alliance? The answer is no. The ship needs a new bridge if we are to set the right direction for the future of the alliance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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