Peacebuilding, Defence and Military
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The world is drifting back towards unconstrained nuclear danger
Marianne Hanson, 19 February With the expiration of the New START treaty and the erosion of arms control agreements, the safeguards that once limited nuclear danger are rapidly disappearing – despite decades of evidence that restraint reduces catastrophic risk. A number of recent developments on the nuclear weapons radar should concern us all. Read more
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Snapshots from the Shadow World, Michelle Fahy, 29 January 2026
Revolving door spins ever more quickly Lockheed Martin Australia has just poached its new CEO straight from the Australian Government’s weapons buying group, Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG). This latest appointment continues the global weapons giant’s long-standing practice of recruiting its local chief executives from the ranks of senior Australian military and defence officials.…
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7am Podcast: This could only end in a very bad place
Albert Palazzo, 10 December, 18 minutes. AUKUS is moving full steam ahead. That was the promise made in Washington, as Richard Marles and Penny Wong stood beside their US counterparts, stating the alliance is stronger than ever. But behind those assurances is a Pentagon review of AUKUS that the public isn’t allowed to read –…
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Secrecy thy name is AUKUS: How Labor’s closed-door committee further entrenches excessive secrecy
From Crikey, ALBERT PALAZZO, 2 December 2025 A committee tasked with reviewing AUKUS should have been a good thing. But one designed to ensure that there are no contrary voices destroys its value from the start. Well, the government has done it again. Instead of taking the opportunity to support the open scrutiny of AUKUS…
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A House of Dynamite: should we be worried?
By Marianne Hanson, Co-Chair, ICAN Australia 11 November 2025 If there’s one message we should take away from Academy Award winning director Kathryn Bigelow’s new film A House of Dynamite, it is this: nuclear weapons cannot keep us ‘safe’ indefinitely. Sooner or later, the kind of scenario depicted in Bigelow’s film will occur. Indeed, many…
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Getting away with murder: What happens in Australia if Israel gets away with genocide?
Dr Julie Macken, 30 October 2025 Yes, the first response to that question is rightly, who cares? It is Palestine and Palestinians who should be the focus of any such question. When it comes to Israel getting away with murder, it is Palestinians that have paid the price. That is increasingly self-evident as will be…
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Arms industry infiltrates National Press Club, Michelle Fahy, 1 Nov 2025
More than a quarter of the National Press Club’s sponsors are part of the global arms industry or working on its behalf. The National Press Club of Australia lists 81 corporate sponsors on its website. Twenty-one of them (listed below) are either part of the global arms industry or actively working on its behalf. Ten…
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The Big Fix: Rebuilding Australia’s national security, by Albert Palazzo, Melbourne University Press, 2025.
An urgent call for a new Australian defence policy The character of war is constantly changing, and so too must the approach to national security. But Australia’s defence policy is broken. Successive governments have not approached the nation’s security with the intelligence, resoluteness and seriousness it requires. After more than 120 years of defence policy…
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Clearing Gaza rubble could yield 90,000 tonnes of planet heating emissions
Nina Lakhani Climate justice reporter, The Guardian, Tue 22 Jul 2025 19.00 AEST Millions of tonnes of rubble left by Israel’s bombardment of Gaza could generate more than 90,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions – and take as long as four decades to remove and process, a study has found. Israel’s destruction of Palestinian homes,…
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AUKUS is a $368 billion risk and the US is a chaotic partner. Australia needs a Plan B
Only the most naive still believe that America will come through on its side of the AUKUS deal. Luckily there is another way. Dr Albert Palazzo As the inherent risks of AUKUS become more apparent and as the United States sinks further into chaos there is a pressing need for Australia to recalibrate the foundation…
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APSF Submission to ANU National Security College Consultations on ‘Securing our Future’
The Australian Peace and Security Forum (APSF) is pleased to provide this submission for consideration of the ANU National Security College. Read more
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Rebuilding Australia’s National Security, Dr Albert Palazzo
First broadcast on ABC Radio Sydney, Wed 30 Jul 2025 at 10:00pm Australia’s defence outlook and the preparedness of our nation to adequately defend itself is currently under review and worth further discussion. Not only the AUKUS deal, but also climate change, factor into our strategic calculations for the next few decades. Nightlife is…
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APSF submission to the inquiry by the UK House of Commons Defence Committee into AUKUS: An Australian perspective
The Australian Peace and Security Forum (APSF) is pleased to provide this submission on AUKUS for consideration of the UK Defence Committee.[1] An Australian perspective on AUKUS is relevant to the deliberations of the UK Defence Committee, not least because Australia is the ultimate recipient of the proposed AUKUS submarine capability. It is important that…
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CONFIRMED: AUSTRALIAN WEAPONS SOLD TO ISRAEL
With the Federal government covering for them, a Canberra-based company has supplied lethal weapons to a country accused of war crimes and genocide. by Michelle Fahy | 26 Apr, 2025 The Australian counter-drone weapons system seen at a weapons demonstration in Israel recently is actually just one of a few that were sold by the…