Founder and Director, Strategic Analysis Australia
Canberra
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Tanker captains paid equivalent to $100,000 a month for travelling thru the Strait of Hormuz, plus a $50,000 bonus for each trip, as Iran steps up its assaults on vessels. Shipowners were offering “danger money” to persuade seafarers to stay on vessels. digitaleditionapp.ft.com/i9D…
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Great picture of PM Albanese using taxpayer dollars in lawfare.
They lost, have appealed, and want me to pay their legal costs. It’s the second time in three months, except for the new appeal they’ve also added a ‘shake-down’ to the repertoire.
@AlboMP clearly hates #transparency, especially #FOI wins. #auspol michaelwest.com.au/shakedown…
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"If Chinese AI models undercut the business cases of the high-end US AI firms, could this disable these key sources of technical advantage for the US?" Hyper-digitised & hyper-personalised: our world and intelligence. strategicanalysis.org/hyper-…
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“A toaster is a wedding gift. A private-island party paid for by a Putin-connected oligarch is something else,” Republican Senator Curtis says, describing Donald Trump Jr's wedding party. wsj.com/opinion/donald-trump… via @WSJopinion
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“Australia is among the world's largest gas producers, yet its eastern coast, where the population is concentrated, has seen shortages. Higher prices have pushed up electricity and fuel costs that have stalled manufacturing.” asia.nikkei.com/business/ene…
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Michael Shoebridge retweeted
Exactly my thoughts. The Government is supposed to be a model litigant but in reality it’s a rogue bully trying hard to defeat the purpose of the law. And the politicians wonder why nobody has any trust in government anymore
It looks like our Government’s plan is to fight every information release through the Courts knowing it will lose many times. The calculation seems to be to win once & impose costs so no one else asks. That’s a punitive approach to its population - not the ‘model litigant’.
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More voters dislike both the Democratic & Republican parties than in other recent elections, the result of economic anxiety & deep dissatisfaction with politicians & govt. 21% holds an unfavorable view of both parties, up from 13% in the 2022 midterms. wsj.com/politics/elections/t…
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"Waging a “permanent contest” with China in the South Pacific, Australia is building new alliances & a new security system. Treaties signed with Island states are driven by fear & shock in Canberra, yet also by a sense of responsibility," - Graeme Dobell. strategicanalysis.org/austra…
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Hmmm: "sovereignty means being able to choose your own dependencies"??? That's an oddly subservient form of sovereignty, with a bit of an "up is the new down" feel to it.
What role will Australia play in the global intelligence economy?
I’ll have more to say in this soon, but appreciated this great @Diplomat_APAC writeup by @MConleytyler and @grantwyeth, which captured some of my remarks at The Sydney Dialogue:
“As @AEI’s Ryan Fedasiuk put it, middle powers have a path forward if they ‘conceive of AI as a global megaproject which everyone can contribute to.’ Importantly, ‘Sovereignty doesn’t mean autarky. Sovereignty means being able to choose your own dependencies rather than having them foisted on you.’”
Great to speak alongside reps from the Australia Signals Directorate, @OpenAI’s Ann O’Leary, @AnthropicAI’s Jeff Bleich, Assistant Minister @Charlton_AB, and others.
thediplomat.com/2026/10/aust…
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No doubt this is simply a ‘rotational Chinese military presence’, not a ‘base’. It’s probably part of a Laos-China Force Posture Initiative. Australia’s Defence Minister Marles knows the forms of words to make this all okay. His Laotian counterpart could give him a call.
Laos: : China has opened a new military support and training centre in Laos, Beijing's Ministry of National Defence said on Sept 29 a rare overseas expansion.
The China-Laos Joint Support and Training Centre and the China-Laos Friendship Aviation Academy are now operational at an airport in Ban Keun 班根机场联合保障和训练中心, the ministry said in a statement. thestar.com.my/aseanplus/ase…
and
global.hk01.com/article/6039…
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Russia has 17 million square kilometres of its own land without any Ukrainian territory. This year, it's lost 248,000 troops to steal 1,000 square km of Ukrainian land. As the Russian families of these troops know, that's both evil & absurd. twz.com/news-features/inside…
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The Trump Admin wants Australian travellers to the US to provide 5 years of social media history & personal & work contacts, extensive personal information on family members, & the IP address & metadata of any photos uploaded as part of their application. sbs.com.au/news/article/trum…
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Michael Shoebridge retweeted
Ukraine 🇺🇦: 3rd Army Corps reports that around 250 Russian soldiers were taken captive north of Lyman where a limited Ukrainian offensive has overwhelmed enemy defenses in the past weeks.
If the numbers are correct this is the largest mass surrender of Russians since spring 2022
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A welcome Wildcat? Austal, AUKUS and an ownership mud wrestle that matters to 4 nations and 4 navies. strategicanalysis.org/a-welc…
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Michael Shoebridge retweeted
A rare glimpse inside a Ukrainian FPV farm. Operators feed their flock a balanced diet of grain and lithium batteries. A few more weeks and they’ll be ready to leave the coop and hunt Russian equipment.
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“Trump Offered to Sell Arms to China, U.S. Ambassador Says.” Maybe they’d be interested in some F-35 parts, like canopies, as a start???nytimes.com/2026/09/27/us/po… via @NYTimes
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“It was also deeply ironic that Trump was flattering the head of the Chinese Communist Party as his Republican Party warns of a looming socialist scourge if Democrats win control of Congress in November’s midterm elections.”
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Shared interests and values at work...?
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AUKUS at 5: Not Dead Yet. Don’t make the rookie error it’s about submarines – it’s about the “Geopolitical Imaginary”…& Dune… strategicanalysis.org/aukus-…
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“Surprisingly, Australia has more cybersecurity regulation around connected washing machines or vacuum cleaners than cars” abc.net.au/news/2026-09-21/b…
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