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Opinion: In the face of escalating global threats and strategic uncertainty, Andrew Wallace MP argues that Australia must abandon short-term political thinking and urgently commit to a comprehensive national security strategy to safeguard its future.
After a tedious and bruising election campaign, Australians are understandably over the political theatre and campaign machinery. They want their decision makers to shut up and get on with the job.
Less salesmanship and more service. As my old boss used to say, “less chat chat, more tap tap”. I couldn’t agree more.
But there is one Coalition election announcement which I think was lost in the fanfare and folly of the campaign. Towards the end of the campaign, the Coalition put forward a National Security Strategy as part of our commitment to invest in Australia’s national defence.
I’ve long advocated for this kind of comprehensive strategic policy around Australia’s security, alongside my friends, the late Jim Molan and Senator James Patterson.
However, for reasons known only to the Labor leadership, the implementation of a National Security Strategy remains unsupported. I accept that defence and national security are not issues which currently sway many votes. That is often the case until the proverbial hits the fan.
But political utility does not make for a good security strategy. We cannot afford to put the security of our country on the backburner until it’s politically convenient. Protecting Australians and securing our future is the primary role of government. And yet for too long we have approached our national security as a piecemeal policy issue, and defence as a master to assuage rather than a force to accelerate.
That must change as a matter of urgency. No matter where you look on the horizon, there are challenging days ahead as we face what the Prime Minister describes as the most geo-strategically challenging times since the end of the Second World War.
Looking to the north, the Chinese Communist Party appears intent on expanding their influence through debt-trap diplomacy, trade wars and increasingly aggressive military intimidation.
President Xi Jinping has instructed his generals to be ready to take Taiwan by force if necessary, by 2027. An attack on Taiwan would almost certainly result in an intervention by Japan, which would put pressure on the West to intervene.
To the east, our closest ally, New Zealand, is undertaking its largest defence investment in generations, while Pacific counterparts contend with complex economic, social and environmental challenges.
To the south, we have an Antarctic territory at risk thanks to chronic under-investment and political disinterest, despite the growing focus on polar affairs by our allies and our opponents – including Russia, Iran, and China. It was only a few months ago when we had a Chinese naval group operating off the coast of Tasmania.
To the east we have conflicts in Gaza, Lebanon, the Red Sea, Ukraine, and the sub-continent with escalating competition between the major powers across central Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
Our defence preparedness, our technology and our national security infrastructure are woefully unprepared for these troubling times. The time for incremental change and gradual investment is long over. The threats are real, not imagined. The consequences of inaction could be utterly devastating.
After three years of cuts and “reprioritisations”, skyrocketing costs and crippling indecision, Australia’s defence industry and investors remain in a dangerous holding pattern. Many of these hi-tech Australian manufacturers are dying deaths from a thousand cuts.
Billions have been cut from our space sector and naval defence, putting at risk Australia’s reputation for world-leading geospatial intelligence and border security. We have warships sitting on hard stands because we cannot crew them. And our international standing remains on shaky ground after a litany of missteps with allies and adversaries alike.
The Trump administration has put America’s allies on notice that we must stand on our own two feet and contribute as partners, not dependents, in upholding global security. We’ve set course for a calamitous strategic shock in the coming years; one which is avoidable with a strong plan.
What does that look like? I don’t have all the answers. But I have many questions – and I think asking the right questions will help us to chart a better way forward when it comes to our defence and security.
Is a gross domestic product spending quota a useful measure of good defence policy? How do we better engage local industry in national procurement? How do we achieve better “bang for buck” in our defence spend?
How can we reduce red tape, boost support and incentivise defence recruitment and retention? What are we doing to stockpile and locally manufacture medicines, livestock pharmaceuticals, pesticides, tech componentry and all the other essential products and services we rely on?
We can’t shy away from the tough questions which keep our defence and intelligence chiefs awake at night. And we can’t continue to put politics before our most important duty: to protect Australians and their interests.
It’s time to put aside the political myopia and deliver on a comprehensive national security strategy. We need to shake up and wake up our defence and security sectors. And we need to reinvest in Australia’s talent, innovation and preparedness.
Sir Robert Menzies said in 1957, “We have no cause to slacken our efforts to defend ourselves in cooperation with our neighbours and our friends.” May we strengthen our efforts to defend ourselves today before it’s too late.
Andrew Wallace MP is the federal member for Fisher. In the previous Parliament, Wallace served as the deputy chair of Parliament’s powerful intelligence and security committee, as well as the defence subcommittee, and was chair of the Coalition Policy Committee on industrial relations, legal and home affairs.
Wallace is a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, and in 2023 he served as a political adviser to the UN General Assembly.
