Better Ways to Defend Australia

Australia’s national security conversation is often framed around Defence procurement. At the most basic level, such discussions might address the merits of different platforms; at a higher level, the debate might be about the relative merits of different sorts of capability or the best mix of capabilities to acquire. Rarely, however, is security discussed more broadly in the context of economic, cultural, trade or other national policy considerations. This leads to significant gaps in our thinking, and perpetuates ineffective policy responses.