Page 134 - Australian Defence Magazine October 2019

DEFENCE IN THE NORTH
STRATEGY
Northern matters
JOHN COYNE | CANBERRA
For well over three decades Australian governments
of various political persuasions, and their policy makers, have furiously agreed that Northern Australia is critical to defence policy. As time has passed, this broad agreement has unintentionally pushed defence thinking about the North into an intellectual comfort zone.
WHILE little has changed in our defence thinking about Australia’s North over the last 30 years the world around us has expe- rienced unprecedented social, geopolitical, technological and economic upheavals.
Today Northern Australia is still impor- tant to defence and national security, but it’s hard to find a clear narrative on why this is the case nor how its importance should be leveraged.
Little wonder then that there’s a grow- ing divide between Defence’s declared policies in Australia’s North and the services’ activity on the ground. This isn’t to say that the individual services haven’t established a formidable ar- ray of capabilities in Australia’s North. Nor is it an argument that Defence don’t believe that the North of Austra- lia isn’t strategically important. Rather, our overarching strategy is anchored in 1980’s concepts of leveraging Northern strategic geography to defend our nation from the region.
If Australia’s strategic environment had remained unchanged since the 80’s this probably wouldn’t be a problem. However, our strategic environment has deteriorat- ed significantly and can be characterised as increasingly unpredictable.
For a third time since federation, the Aus- tralian government must seriously consider continental defence and national security.
In the current strategic environment policy makers and strategists need to con- sider how to use the north as a vehicle for defence with the region.
In responding to this policy and strategy challenge our thinking must go well be- yond continental defence to include force projection, enhanced regional surveillance and support for the new US approach to force posture in the Pacific, and contribute to national resilience and broader defence capabilities. It must encompass threats ranging from transnational serious and or- ganised crime to regional conflict.
Unlike the 1980’s, Australia mightn’t
have the luxury of a 10-year warning; in- deed, hostilities could occur inside any warning period, whether or not they’re comprehended or acknowledged.
A historical perspective
Since federation, governments have peri- odically wrestled with what to do about Australia’s strategically important north. Historically though, knowing its impor- tance hasn’t always translated into good defence strategy.
In September 1931, Imperial Japan in- vaded Manchuria in order to secure the resources needed to realise its aspirations to unite Asia. This event provided the Aus-
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