The Productivity Commission Productivity Commission released its first review of progress on the National Agreement on Closing the Gap in February 2024. First Nations Foreign Policy Fellow Sarah Leary asks: how will Australia's foreign affairs portfolio respond? bit.ly/ipab44

My thoughts on yesterday’s #NDS24 announcements in the Financial Review 👇

‘the NDS achieves the defence and strategy elements of what it says on the tin, but there are three fundamental issues at the national level’

ANU National Security College UNSW Canberra

afr.com/policy/foreign…

Excellent summary thread by Dr Elizabeth Buchanan on Australia's National Defence Strategy

On 27 Mar, Perth USAsia Centre hosted a panel discussion on North Korea & #NuclearSecurity between Prof Gordon Flake Gordon Flake, WiN Australia Exec Jasmin Diab & Prof Rüdiger Frank Rüdiger Frank. Great to see academic engagement between🇦🇺&🇦🇹on intl security issues.
📸Perth USAsia Centre

'‘Beyond Utopia’, Beyond Wishes' By Professor Gordon Flake
I wish that the horrific human rights abuses that mandated the “5th International Conference on North Korean Human Rights and Refugees” in Warsaw Poland in 2004 were no longer an issue.
perthusasia.edu.au/research-insig…
Gordon Flake

“If we want to make our future here in Australia, WA will lead the way” - Hon. Madeleine King MP, Minister for Resources Madeleine King MP

After Lawrence Wong becomes Singapore's prime minister on 15 May, the only ASEAN leaders* to have assumed office before 2021 will be the Sultan in Brunei and Jokowi in Indonesia—and Jokowi steps down in October. Unprecedented breadth of leadership transition in Southeast Asia.

Biden-Kishida summit joint statement 🧵

Length alone wld make this joint statement historic: ~5k words cf ~2k for 2021 Biden-Suga summit. But also historic in breadth, both geographic and strategic. Much for China et al to ponder.
whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/…

Fantastic to catch up with my old friend Ambassador Sayakane Sisouvong in Vientiane. We trained together at DFAT years ago, before he went on to become 🇱🇦 MFA Permanent Secretary and ASEAN Deputy Secretary-General. Another Australian alumnus. See you again soon!

‘India’s military is likely to establish several new joint commands this year in one of the most significant restructures in its history’, writes Kim Heriot-Darragh. aspistrategist.org.au/what-indias-de…

Sharing a reflective Perth USAsia Centre piece I wrote this week after watching the Oscar nominated documentary 'Beyond Utopia.' I stand in awe of friends such as Hyeonseo Lee Sue Mi Terry Barbara Demick

perthusasia.edu.au/research-insig…

Bigger than beer. Learned much from this informative and insightful piece by Perth USAsia Centre First Nations Foreign Policy Fellow Sarah Leary. Makes a clear case for a strategy to incorporate Australia's First Nations businesses into national trade strategy.
perthusasia.edu.au/research-insig…

'... a regional, multilateral security architecture is forming in response to Beijing’s revisionist behaviour; and that Japan has become an accepted security provider in south-east Asia. Both developments would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.'…

'Russian efforts to dismember the sanctions regime against North Korea underscore how the UN Security Council is unable to act as the chosen institution of global governance if Russia and China block action.' By Victor Cha & Ellen Kim CSIS Korea Chair csis.org/analysis/russi…

With yesterday’s veto of the UN Panel of Experts, Russia is dismantling the once robust UN sanctions regime against North Korea. Quid pro quo for ammunition in Ukraine. What are friends for? csis.org/analysis/russi…

Russia is systematically dismembering the UN sanctions regime in exchange for NK munitions for UKR war. 1) noncompliance w/10 UNSCRs it had signed; 2) blocking new UNSCRs; 3) vetoing renewal of UN panel of experts mandate; 4) calling for sunset clauses on UN sanctions against NK.…

A veto by Russia on Thursday ended the UN’s monitoring of sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, dissolving a body that for 14 years was responsible for keeping a close eye on Pyongyang’s illicit activities.
wapo.st/4ajVX9W

When a cargo ship took out a Baltimore bridge, it also demolished the lies poisoning our immigration debate

The 6 migrant men who died weren't drug dealers or sex traffickers but hero dads filling potholes to give their kids a better life

My new column⬇️ inquirer.com/opinion/baltim…

Delighted to host the Japanese Ambassador, His Excellency Kazuhiro Suzuki, at the University Club as part of the 7th Annual Japan Symposium organised by the Perth USAsia Centre and Australia Japan Business Cooperation Committee.

Count down to the start of our 7th Perth USAsia Centre Japan Symposium. Delighted to partner this year with AJBCC and Woodside Energy on the opening dinner UWA CGJPERTH