Energy and Food Security - Is Australia Fragile or Resilient?

The Australian state is not normally considered in the context of fragility. We challenge the assumption of Australian robustness by examining the way in which two potential vulnerabilities are framed and the way these issues are incorporated in to the political and institutional policy agendas. Food and energy security will be examined in the context of Australia as a complex adaptive system with an analysis of the vulnerabilities of these two issues as understood by different actors. While it can be argued that Australia has been resilient in the past, we argue that this state cannot be taken for granted for the future. There are vulnerabilities that could become triggers for unexpected changes, or which could tip towards greater vulnerability and fragility.