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3 weeks ago | 
australiainstitute.org.au | Greg Jericho |David Richardson |Emma Shortis |Allan Behm
Right now, the government and the opposition are moving to increase the amount the government spends on its military aka its defence budget, and this is happening without the public having any say – nor any great choice in the upcoming election. The Trump administration, including Elbridge Colby, who is soon to be confirmed as head of policy at the US Defence Department, is now telling Australia it needs to spend 3% of GDP on the military.
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2 months ago | 
australiainstitute.org.au | Allan Behm |Emma Shortis |Ebony Bennett
The apocalyptic “the end is nigh” was a popular meme for the image of despair and exclusion from the accelerating prosperity of America and the West. A down-and-out wearing sandwich boards standing in a car park full of Cadillacs. How droll, we all thought, as we consumed our way to surfeit. But now the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has joined in, not in fun but in deadly earnest. It has shaved a second off the Doomsday Clock, reducing the minute and a half to 89 seconds.
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Nov 28, 2024 | 
australiainstitute.org.au | Matt Grudnoff |Allan Behm
The government’s latest housing affordability policies, “help to buy” and “build to rent” are the latest in a long line of policies from both major parties that will do nothing to ease the housing crisis. For years politicians have been rolling out policies they claim will make housing more affordable. And for years housing affordability has continued to get worse. Housing needs to become cheaper and instead it is becoming more expensive.
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Nov 1, 2024 | 
johnmenadue.com | Allan Behm
Three years on, there is still no compelling argument, strategic or otherwise, for Australia’s acquiring eight Virginia-class nuclear-propelled submarines (SSNs). Nor is there any compelling calculation of the large lick of funding – $368bn and more – that the program will soak up. Only Defence seems able to command such stupendous outlays when childcare, aged care, Medicare rebates, the National Disability Insurance Scheme, education and social housing fight it out for every cent they can get.
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Oct 30, 2024 | 
australiainstitute.org.au | Allan Behm |Emma Shortis
Three years on, there is still no compelling argument, strategic or otherwise, for Australia’s acquiring eight Virginia class nuclear-propelled submarines (SSNs). Nor is there any compelling calculation of the large lick of funding – $368 billion and more – that the program will soak up.
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Oct 30, 2024 | 
theaustralian.com.au | Allan Behm
Three years on, there is still no compelling argument, strategic or otherwise, for Australia’s acquiring eight Virginia-class nuclear-propelled submarines (SSNs). Nor is there any compelling calculation of the large lick of funding – $368bn and more – that the program will soak up. Only Defence seems able to command such stupendous outlays when childcare, aged care, Medicare rebates, the National Disability Insurance Scheme, education and social housing fight it out for every cent they can get.
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Oct 10, 2024 | 
australiainstitute.org.au | Allan Behm
Like most of the US allies, Australia is caught between a rock and a hard place. The rock is Israel’s intransigence and the implacability of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s coalition partners. The hard place is the immense suffering of the Palestinian and, now, the Lebanese people. “Acceptance” of Israel’s extreme brutality in the assertion of its right to national security and “concern” at the slaughter of 30,000 non-combatants, including over 10,000 children, are irreconcilable.
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Oct 9, 2024 | 
johnmenadue.com | Allan Behm
Like most of the US allies, Australia is caught between a rock and a hard place. The rock is Israel’s intransigence and the implacability of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s coalition partners. The hard place is the immense suffering of the Palestinian and, now, the Lebanese people. “Acceptance” of Israel’s extreme brutality in the assertion of its right to national security and “concern” at the slaughter of 30,000 non-combatants, including over 10,000 children, are irreconcilable.
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Oct 4, 2024 | 
canberratimes.com.au | Allan Behm
Like most of the US allies, Australia is caught between a rock and a hard place. Subscribe now for unlimited access. or signup to continue reading All articles from our website & appThe digital version of Today's PaperBreaking news alerts direct to your inboxInteractive Crosswords, Sudoku and TriviaAll articles from the other in your areaThe rock is Israel's intransigence and the implacability of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition partners.
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Sep 27, 2024 | 
johnmenadue.com | Michael Lester |Allan Behm
The largely unrecognised risk to Australia that our powerful ally will strategically collapse through internal political stresses is greater than the much discussed threat of war with China. Allan Behm, Director, International & Security Affairs Program, The Australia Institute, in conversation with Michael Lester about his new book The Odd Couple: The Australia-America relationship (Upswell Publishing 2024).
