ANZUS was established in geopolitical circumstances that no longer exist. A changing environment doesn’t mean Australia should exit the alliance, but in light of a rising China, it must rethink how ANZUS determines policy.

Consecutive government funding cuts have forced universities to become reliant on international students for funding. As universities restructure in response to COVID-19, both universities and international students are at risk.

China seems poised to emerge from the current crises stronger than before.  This will test the Sino-Australian relationship that has been characterised by mutual strategic interest and mutual distrust.

The WHO; “mask diplomacy”; DFAT & Covid-19.

Before the economic dislocation caused by COVID-19 spread beyond China, Australia’s overreliance on a select few commodity exports to this one market was laid bare. It is essential for post-pandemic recovery efforts to focus on diversifying Australia’s trade relationships.

The United States, and the alliance.

Environmental arguments against coal don’t work. It's time to mobilise a new national interest against Australia’s harmful addiction - the national security interest.

COVID-19 has closed borders, reversed globalisation, decoupled supply chains, and marginalised multilateral institutions.  It has been far more effective than the most fervent efforts of the world’s populist nationalists.

COVID-19 is set to impact US foreign policy, US-China geopolitics, and great power politics in the Post-COVID-19 world. Now is the time for India to take its rightful place in the community of global leadership. 

It seems harder, every year, to predict with any certainty how Australia’s external environment will change. It is necessary to consider how regional trends are impacting Australia’s development partners as it works to implement meaningful development policies.

The Australian Treasury’s initial purpose was to be a bookkeeper and budget manager for the new commonwealth government.  A couple of decades later, the inadequacy of Treasury in providing meaningful economic policy advice to the government during the Great Depression was a catalyst for the development of a more substantive policy role.