{"id":86325,"date":"2024-04-08T14:57:18","date_gmt":"2024-04-08T04:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=86325"},"modified":"2024-04-08T14:57:18","modified_gmt":"2024-04-08T04:57:18","slug":"its-time-for-a-new-national-security-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/its-time-for-a-new-national-security-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s time for a new national security strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

It\u2019s been more than a decade since the <\/span>then Gillard government released Australia\u2019s <\/span>first national security strategy<\/span>, flagging <\/span>an expectation that an updated strategy should be created every five years to set out key objectives and priorities to keep Australia<\/span>ns safe.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, with a <\/span>reduction in strategic warning time<\/span>,<\/span> an evolving set of threats<\/span> and, above all, a collapse of the <\/span>distinction between our economic and security interests<\/span>, there is a<\/span> case for a<\/span>n<\/span> updated national security strategy<\/span> to<\/span>\u00a0improve co<\/span>–<\/span>ordination between government agencies and <\/span>explain to<\/span> the public of how it plans to protect Australia\u2019s vital interests.<\/span><\/p>\n

Amid a <\/span>rapidly changing geopolitical environment,<\/span> the<\/span> elements of national security are broadening<\/span> and becoming more connected<\/span>. As just a few examples, <\/span>technology<\/span>–<\/span>enabled foreign interference and disinformation<\/span> are proliferating<\/span>, <\/span>Covid and the invasion of Ukraine<\/span> have highlighted supply chain dependencies<\/span>, <\/span>and there is a growing <\/span>acceptance that energy and climate challenges will complicate the security <\/span>environment.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These<\/span> trends are being recognised in other ways. <\/span>Last May,<\/span> for instance,<\/span> Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Joe Biden declar<\/span>ed<\/span> c<\/span>limate<\/span>\u202f<\/span>and energy <\/span>the<\/span>\u202f<\/span>third pillar<\/span>\u202f<\/span>of the Australia-<\/span>US alliance<\/span>, joining <\/span>defence and economic co-operation<\/span>. This followed a restructure of the <\/span>Albanese government\u2019s National Security Committee of Cabinet<\/span> less than a year earlier<\/span> that brought<\/span> in<\/span> the Energy and Climate Minister<\/span> as a permanent member.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

T<\/span>he government<\/span> has<\/span> accepted the<\/span> 2023<\/span> Defence Strategic Review\u2019s proposal for<\/span> a<\/span> biennial <\/span>National Defence Strateg<\/span>y<\/span>, the first to be released this year. The DSR also gave a strong signal of the mindset the government w<\/span>ould<\/span> bring to the development of a<\/span>ny<\/span> national security<\/span> strategy<\/span>, with references to <\/span>the need for <\/span>\u2018<\/span>a much more whole-of-government and whole-of-nation approach to security<\/span>\u2019<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

T<\/span>he p<\/span>rime minister <\/span>has an opportunity to build momentum towards the d<\/span>evelopment of a new strategy by<\/span> delivering a national security statement to <\/span>p<\/span>arliament before he, presumably, attends the July 2024 NATO Summit in Washington.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A<\/span> new<\/span> national security strategy w<\/span>ould<\/span> need<\/span> involvement from the private sector. New economic models have emerged as the distinction between security and economics has <\/span>blurred<\/span>. Over the nearly half century from the 1970s, Australia <\/span>has <\/span>shifted from <\/span>a general protectionist mindset<\/span> to liberalisation of the economy. Now, sovereign capability and friend-shoring have been added to the mix and gained prominence. Strategic realities are challenging longstanding notions of economic efficiency and security.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sensing this<\/span> paradigm<\/span> shift<\/span>, the Business Council of Australia has called for<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u2018<\/span>contemporary industry policy<\/span>\u2019<\/span> to develop sectors in which Australia has a comparative advantage<\/span>. It has<\/span> stressed the need to build capabilities to tap into the world\u2019s supply chains<\/span> and pointed to <\/span>areas of emerging strength<\/span> such as critical minerals, quantum, the AUKUS security pact and space.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Historically dependent on foreign capital, <\/span>Australia will need to<\/span> ensure its institutions, such as the Foreign Investment Review Board, are up to speed with national security considerations<\/span> of emerging technologies<\/span> while not unduly restricting <\/span>the <\/span>economic competition and dynamism<\/span> essential to<\/span> Australia\u2019s<\/span> long-term<\/span> prosperity.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The indivisibility of economics and security is nowhere better captured than in the <\/span>strategically vital areas <\/span>of<\/span> energy and critical mineral<\/span>s<\/span>. Here, <\/span>Australia will need to balance do<\/span>mestic <\/span>considerations with the interests of its key strategic partners. <\/span>Any comprehensive national security strategy <\/span>will need to take such considerations into account.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The<\/span> g<\/span>overnment<\/span>\u2019s<\/span> 2030 <\/span>renewable<\/span> energy target of 82 per<\/span>cent is a monumental <\/span>undertaking<\/span> and the <\/span>Australian Energy Market Operator <\/span>has forecast <\/span>the last coal-fired plant to retire by 2038.<\/span> G<\/span>as-fired power will be critical to cover shortfalls of renewable energy<\/span>. <\/span>Expect the<\/span> views of Japan and Korea<\/span>\u2014<\/span>nations that<\/span> sometimes<\/span> seek assurances about reliability of <\/span>Australia\u2019s <\/span>energy<\/span> exports<\/span>\u2014<\/span>to<\/span> be reflected in the Australian government\u2019s Future Gas Strategy to be released this year.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I<\/span>n<\/span> response to<\/span> the<\/span> supply glut<\/span> of nickel<\/span>,<\/span> the government <\/span>has<\/span> placed <\/span>it<\/span> on the <\/span>c<\/span>ritical <\/span>m<\/span>inerals <\/span>l<\/span>ist<\/span> and is pushing the Biden <\/span>administration for support on <\/span>\u2018<\/span>clean nickel<\/span>\u2019<\/span> standards. T<\/span>his will require deft handling of the relationship with Indonesia, which <\/span>has benefited from an influx of Chinese investment in nickel supply chains.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And the government is preparing to release its response to the U<\/span>S<\/span> Inflation Reduction Act in its quest to attract investment in the clean energy transition. This will need to find a balance with the <\/span>Australia-United States <\/span>Climate, Critical Minerals and Clean Energy Transformation Compact<\/span>, <\/span>as well as the work untaken by ministerial-level Australia-United States Taskforce on Critical Minerals.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These are significant considerations that need to be woven into a broader strategy.<\/span><\/p>\n

A national security strategy\u2019s relevance is always vulnerable to <\/span>events<\/span>, particularly for a middle power<\/span>. <\/span>However, speculation about the implications of the 2024 US presidential election, for example, should be<\/span> no<\/span> cause for delay.<\/span><\/p>\n

There <\/span>is <\/span>a lot that <\/span>Australia can control<\/span>,<\/span> as <\/span>shown <\/span>by the multitude of<\/span> recent<\/span> government<\/span> strategy and policy<\/span> documents<\/span>,<\/span> and current consultations<\/span>,<\/span> across <\/span>different<\/span> portfolios<\/span>,<\/span> including cyber security, artificial intelligence,<\/span> energy,\u00a0<\/span>immigration and defence.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Work on a cogent document bringing together the various <\/span>national security <\/span>strands<\/span> should begin now, with a particular focus on defending Australia\u2019s values and democratic institutions.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been more than a decade since the then Gillard government released Australia\u2019s first national security strategy, flagging an expectation that an updated strategy should be created every five years to set out key objectives …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1028,"featured_media":86326,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3541],"class_list":["post-86325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-national-defence-strategy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIt\u2019s time for a new national security strategy | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/its-time-for-a-new-national-security-strategy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"It\u2019s time for a new national security strategy | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s been more than a decade since the then Gillard government released Australia\u2019s first national security strategy, flagging an expectation that an updated strategy should be created every five years to set out key objectives ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/its-time-for-a-new-national-security-strategy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-04-08T04:57:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GettyImages-1407996715-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mick McNeill\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mick McNeill\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/its-time-for-a-new-national-security-strategy\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GettyImages-1407996715-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GettyImages-1407996715-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JULY 08: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks during a joint press conference with NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on July 08, 2022 in Sydney, Australia. 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