The future of senator Robert Simms, one of the freshest faces in the Greens team, may hang on whether he is first or second on his party's ticket.
If Tony Abbott is disappointed by the failure to choose Japan to build Australia’s new submarines, the only one he can blame is himself.
AAP/Ben Macmahon
Like oil and water, party politics and good defence policy are presumed not to mix. And the process to buy Australia’s next fleet of submarines has been all about party politics.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Defence Minister Marise Payne today awarded the $50 billion future submarine to French bidder DCNS.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
The French have defeated German and Japanese bids to win the $50 billion contract to build Australia’s 12 new submarines, which will be constructed in Adelaide.
DCNS’ ‘Shortfin Barracuda’ was the winning design for Australia’s next submarine fleet.
AAP/DCNS Group
There were significant differences between the three submarines on offer in the competitive evaluation process. Here’s what made the French sub stand out.
The principal consequence of Australia’s inevitable but little-debated decision to acquire submarines is to contribute to a rapidly escalating regional arms race.
Malcolm Turnbull will visit China this week in his first time there as prime minister. The two-day trip, including visits to Shanghai and Beijing, will juggle trade and political issues.
Crewed submarines like the HMAS Rankin might become a thing of the past.
United States Navy, Photographer's Mate 1st Class David A. Levy
Autonomous submarines might do for naval warfare what drones are doing for air warfare. So should Australia consider autonomous subs as a replacement for the Collins class?
The new defence white paper marks a return to seriousness in its approach to spending.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
The defence white paper will pledge an additional $29.9 billion in defence spending over the coming decade and support for businesses to innovate in areas such as cyber security and aeronautics.
Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull’s predecessor as prime minister, enjoyed a close relationship with his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe.
AAP/Ian Waldie
Australia looks set to continue to confront its core foreign policy dilemma: balancing relations between its largest trading partner, China, and its key security partners, the US and Japan.
It’s all about the spillovers.
Image sourced from Shutterstock.com
Bringing firms and talent together can have a significant payoff beyond the basic submarine build.
Through reinterpreting the constitution and bidding to build Australia’s submarines, Shinzo Abe is leading Japan towards a more assertive strategic posture.
EPA/Kimimasa Mayama
North Korea does not yet have the capacity to launch a nuclear missile from a submarine. Its recent test, however, suggests it is making progress to a game-changing second-strike capability.
The future of four submarines has become the spat-of-the-day in election 2015.
The National Civic Council, a Christian lobby group, orchestrated a massive email campaign before the spill motion to pressure MPs to support Tony Abbott’s leadership.
AAP/Jane Dempster
Cabinet’s national security committee last October favoured Australia’s new submarine fleet being mostly constructed overseas with the ASC having only limited work.
The government’s political play on submarines could backfire.
Image sourced from Shutterstock.com
Days after announcing Australia’s largest ever defence contract will be awarded via a “competitive evaluation process”, the government is still scrambling for a sensible definition of what such a process…