The last two months have seen a complete re-shaping of the global world order of the last 80 years. It’s been hard to watch. It will be even harder for Australia to respond. It’s difficult not to resort to hyperbole and panic, but we must respond strongly, decisively and nationally. The forthcoming Federal election timing could not come at a worse time, as we enter a campaigning and caretaker mode. But the global order that has underpinned our national security and determined our global trading relationships, lies dead and bleeding. This is an immediate call to action as Australia confronts being alone in the Pacific in the new “Age of Empires”.
Here is a shortlist of immediate actions for the Federal government.
Military & Diplomatic
The UK and then the US have underpinned our security since colonisation. Those guarantees are gone and Australia finds itself alone in the Pacific.
- Increase direct military spending as a % of GDP to the same levels as Singapore and Finland. (https://milex.sipri.org/sipri )
- New Zealand 1.2%
- Australia 1.9%
- Finland 2.4%
- Singapore 2.7%
- Strengthen and coordinate related military, security and intelligence services including the Australian Secret Intelligence Service and Defence Science & Technology Group
- Increase direct and indirect diplomatic to the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade
- Restore reductions in overseas Embassies and Ambassadors of the last 20 years
- Strengthen diplomatic services and support outside Canberra
- Provide additional support for Australia-based consular services of foreign nations
- Send home state-based trade missions from overseas embassies
- Increase the on-shore security and intelligence apparatus of ASIO, the Federal Police and other “homeland affairs” agencies
- Call-up all defence force reservists, convert Defence contractors into permanent roles, and make it easier for retired service personnel to re-join the defence forces
- Increase the intake of the Australian Defence Force Academy and provide additional options for young people to undertake post-school training in defence-related trades regardless of location, in exchange for service as Reservists
- Restore ABC funding that provided English language broadcast services across the Asia-Pacific and increase funding for translated services to be broadcast off-shore
Trade, Infrastructure, Investment & Immigration
- Immediately wind-back World Trade requirements that limit Australian biosecurity measures and limit “Buy Australian” campaigns
- Increase Austrade presence in Embassies and Consular services abroad
- Assure Australia’s onshore steel manufacturing and petrol refining capabilities
- Strengthen the Foreign Investment Review Board’s terms of reference to emphasise national security objectives
- Revisit the terms of the Future Fund and strengthen its ability to act with national security and civil preparedness as objectives
- Conduct a critical infrastructure audit and (re)nationalise key infrastructure such as ports, utilities, energy, telecommunications and transport to assure continuity of operations in case of civil disruptions
- Australia should immediately introduce more generous “digital nomad” visas to encourage remote workers to reside in Australia
- Australia must set, and meet, migration targets that demonstrate a clear path to a population of 40 million people. We must have a sufficiently large domestic market as a buffer against civil and supply chain disruptions
Civil preparedness & National identity
- Coordinate with state governments’ climate change civil preparedness and social inclusion functions for capacity building civil readiness organisations:
- Service groups: Lions, Rotary, CWA, Scouts & Girl Guides, Food banks, etc.
- Churches and faith-based organisations
- Charities: Red Cross, Smith Family, etc.
- Local government
- Political and community leaders at every level must kick-off debates at all levels about our dreams, frustrations, beliefs, disappointments, and hopes for Australia in 2025. What does it mean to be Australian? What is our place in the world? Where do we sit on the individualism versus collectivism spectrum? What cultural values do we share or fundamentally disagree on? In the new Age of Empires, to which do we belong? What do we need to do to forge our own path?
Health & Medical Research Funding
America’s retreat from the basic science underpinning population health and the dismanting of medial research funding, needs strong counter-measures.
- the Federal department of health should hand-back funding, services and programs related to primary health that are the province of the states
- Federal government programs need to pivot towards:
- filling the gap left by global funding cuts to support population health measures in the Pacific and developing nations in Asia
- population health research
- Australia will need to top-up basic medial research funding. The current, inefficient system of rolling four-year granting needs reform to fund long-term primary research.
Paying the piper
In return, the Federal government should wind back and exit the direct provision of funding of human services and other functions which have increased in scope since Federation and return these to the states. The Commonwealth of Australia must redirect its attention to section 51 powers. Specifically:
- return education funds to the states for distribution and re-deploy the public service
- return health funds to the states for distribution and re-deploy the public service
Reading:
Mel Yuan for Brunswick 
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