ARTICLES
Episode 36: A Grumpy Strategist meets a Wise Owl: caught between China & the US, Australia fixates on a 2040 Fantasy Force
Episode 36: A Grumpy Strategist meets a Wise Owl: | RSS.com Grumpy Strategist Marcus Hellyer talks with co-founder Peter Jennings in SAA's secure bunker deep in the Brindabella ranges. They discuss the puzzle of the Canberra consensus that Australia is in a much more...
China’s maritime misbehaviour: common ground impossible while China remains a bad faith actor
In a recent article published by the Australian Institute of International Affairs, Edward Chan points out that Australian governments have been hesitant to engage too closely with China on maritime security issues. He argues that must change: Australia should be...
Australia’s 2025-26 Defence Budget: $59 billion, but the Government’s still missing its moment
Cometh the moment, cometh the man goes the old saying. And the moment has certainly come. We have seen an unbroken string of destabilising and threatening international events over the past decade. Their impact on Australia’s security has been consistently...
Australia’s defence needs more than hot air
We are in an age of upheaval. President Donald Trump’s actions are accelerating many of the strategic drivers that were already at work. These changes are not beneficial to Australia. While the mantra of ADF leaders has been “we’ll never fight alone”, even...
If Ukraine, Israel & Taiwan don’t matter, who’s got our back?
The seven-front war against Israel is heating up once again and the intensity of fighting in Ukraine shows we are a long way away from a sustainable peace. China meanwhile, in the words of Admiral Samuel J. Paparo, head of US Indo-Pacific Command, is not only...
Episode 35: Australian ‘wombat resistance’ to Trump begins, the masterplan for zero tariffs and debates swirl on “Plan B’ for security
Episode 35: Australian 'wombat resistance' to Trum | RSS.com Marcus and Michael explore the Government's confused position on disaster relief and the military. They assess the nuances in wombat-based pushback on US policies & set out the merits of the Government's...
The ‘5 Eyes’ & Trump: problems of trust & mistrust
The 5 Eyes intelligence partnership between Australia, the US, Canada, New Zealand and the UK is uniquely deep. It has operated for decades, including as governments of various political hues and persuasions ruled in each of the five nations. The power of the pooled...
Forget Collins, these should be our defence priorities
The plan to upgrade the Collins-class submarines with a life-of-type extension is the single most important, and the highest risk, of Defence’s equipment projects. If the project can’t proceed or is too slow, we lose our ability to deploy...
Role of crime in anti-Semitic attacks is a complicating factor, not a cleansing one
It was all a criminal hoax. That was the headline from this week’s police admission that the explosives-packed caravan found in January at Dural in Sydney’s northwest was never going to cause a mass casualty event. What about the list of Jewish targets found with the...
Dealing with Trump is a team sport, not an individual one
Anthony Albanese is being criticised for not getting a one-on-one meeting with US President Donald Trump as fast as he can. That criticism is louder in the wake of Australia getting no exemption from US aluminium and steel tariffs. But every other leader – besides...
Walk This Way: Grumpies & ADM cover Defence hit ‘Slowrollin’ & try the new Coke Zero flavour of US alliances
Walk This Way: Grumpies & ADM cover Defence hit Sl | RSS.com Not since Run DMC & Aerosmith did "Walk This Way" has there been a collaboration like this, except on.....defence stuff.... Marcus & Michael join the AustDefMagazine Crew to assess Defence officials'...
No Higher Priority – urgent actions on defence for Australia’s next government
This is unbelievable: FINALLY, the book you have all been waiting for 'No Higher Priority'. One title, 3 authors, 6 chapters, 36 recommendations. It's all here in a thriller-like adventure story that can cure the Australian military's debilitating illnesses and give...
DOGE and American military power – there’s a tsunami coming
Elon Musk has the goal of saving $US1 trillion dollars from the US Federal Government’s expenditure by 30 September 2025. He has to find cuts of $4 billion every day until then. The sheer numbers mean Pentagon and US military power will be in the frame...
Donald Trump shows strong hand, but do we still hold AUKUS ace?
President Donald Trump delivered a strong speech to the US Congress, departing from his script only occasionally to needle unhappy Democratic Party members in his audience. The speech was a mix of longstanding Trump themes: strengthening borders; deporting...
Islamophobia & anti-semitism: different problems that must each be understood
This week a 16-year-old boy in Western Australia was arrested following an alleged online threat to a Sydney mosque that referenced the 2019 attack in Christchurch, where more than fifty worshippers were murdered. The prime minister condemns the alleged threat,...
The 2025 Defence budget update: still sleeping walking to disaster
The Government recently released the 2024-25 Portfolio Additional Estimates Statements (PAES) which are meant to report on how departments are going at delivering on the policy goals and spending plans set out in the Portfolio Budget Statements (PBS). This year’s...
Trump halting military support to Ukraine risks handing both a propaganda and a real victory to Putin
After the disastrous Oval Office meeting with Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, Donald Trump is pausing all military aid to Ukraine. This is apparently to force Mr Zelensky to do two things: apologise to President Trump for not being grateful enough for his...
The facts have changed. Has the Australian Government noticed?
It’s important not to panic and to jump at ghosts and shadows. But when the facts change, a sane person changes their plans. Simply continuing down the same path while ignoring reality is as irresponsible as wildly panicking. And the facts have changed—the second...
Beijing tested our defences — Anthony Albanese blew it
For years Australian ministers have said the country faces the most difficult strategic circumstances since the end of World War II. The phrase has been repeated so often its meaning has been hollowed out and replaced with empty political blather. Is there no...
Grumpies live at the Australian Defence Magazine 2025 Congress – Episode 33
Episode 33 - Grumpy Strategists live at the Austra | RSS.com Recorded at the 2025 Australian Defence Magazine Congress, the Grumpies look at the world & ask so what? Oz is facing a national crisis due to events in the US, with Russia & Europe, & given...
China brings its tension & aggression in SE Asia into the peaceful South Pacific
The Chinese military’s no-notice live firing between Australia and New Zealand is bringing deliberate and dangerous behaviour into our peaceful neighbourhood. Of course, China is telling everyone this is all good because it’s not illegal, but it’s odd to...
When the Trump show comes to the Indo Pacific
Donald Trump being willing to negotiate a deal on the war in Ukraine with Vladimir Putin without Ukraine or European allies should be ringing alarm bells for how President Trump might operate when it comes to our part of the world down here in the Indo Pacific....
A stabilised relationship? Xi Jinping wants submission from Australia, not stability.
Beijing uses its military forces to send what diplomats call “signals” or, in plainer language, threats and warnings. What messages does Xi Jinping want Australia to take from the imminent prospect of the Chinese navy firing missiles off our east coast? First,...
Australia’s vulnerable homeland: fixing critical Defence and national infrastructure weaknesses
As we see China's PLA-Navy warships firing live weapons in the waters between Australia and New Zealand, it's time to act on the fact that Australia's geography no longer protects our population or key infrastructure from military threats. We have an obvious and...
Defence’s murky export statistics
One of the challenges facing those who attempt to scrutinise the performance of the Australian Department of Defence is the general lack of transparency. Since Defence isn’t required to release many kinds of information, it simply doesn’t. This is compounded by the...
Are we building the wrong defence industry?
In the recent years, Australian Governments have made repeated announcements about building/rebuilding a viable, sustainable and innovative domestic industry for defence. The most recent example is that of Defence Minister Marles promising $262 million to get...
When Karens take power; building a hedge of frigates & missile maths
When Karens take power; building a hedge of frigat | RSS.com In Episode 32, the Grumpy Strategists apply science to the Australian government's early engagement with the Trump Administration. Insights from prey species threatened by a predator help. They look at...
Implementing defence industry policy – what you see, and what you don’t
This month marks the first anniversary of the release of the government’s 2024 Defence Industry Development Strategy. At that time, the Strategy attracted little attention besides some pretty critical reviews. Not much has changed since—despite the document dealing...
AUKUS: from strategic partnership to a deal kept on the road by Aussie cash
No one should take any comfort from the recent engagement that Defence Minister Richard Marles had with newly-appointed Pentagon chief, Pete Hesgeth in Washington last week. Instead, we should prepare for the obvious demand Donald Trump will make of Australia and...
Our hospitals won’t cope with a mass-casualty event
In January, a caravan was found in Sydney packed with explosives with a note in the vehicle listing Jewish addresses, including a synagogue. Places of worship have long been terrorist targets because of their symbolic value and limited security...