Ben Roberts-Smith expected to be charged with war crimes One of Australia's most decorated soldiers, Ben Roberts-Smith, is under arrest and expected to be charged with five counts of the war crime of murder.

One of Australia's most decorated soldiers, Ben Roberts-Smith, has been arrested and was expected to be charged with five counts of the war crime of murder.
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04... #auslaw #ausdef

Ben Roberts-Smith arrested over multiple war crimes Australia’s most famous soldier has been taken into custody over the alleged murders of unarmed Afghan civilians and prisoners.

Ben Roberts-Smith has been arrested in relation to multiple counts of murdering unarmed Afghan civilians and prisoners in what looms as the most significant war crimes prosecution in Australian history.
www.theage.com.au/national/ben... #auslaw #ausdef
archive version: archive.is/bpv0Q

Space Sovereignty Becomes Australia's Geopolitical Flashpoint as Russia Launches Rassvet Russia's Rassvet launch and Australia's cabinet restructure reveal space has become a domain of great power competition that Australia must navigate carefully.

Space Sovereignty Becomes Australia's Geopolitical Flashpoint as Russia Launches Rassvet

#AuSpace #Geopolitics #AusDef #AUKUS #AusNews #Breaking

thedailyperspective.org/article/2026-03-25-space...

Sending a ship to Strait of Hormuz would test 'small, stretched' Australian navy Australia has made it clear it's not planning to send a warship to the Strait of Hormuz and naval experts warn our ships would be of minimal help if they were deployed.

Australia has made it clear it's not planning to send a warship to the Strait of Hormuz and naval experts warn our ships would be of minimal help if they were deployed.
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03... #ausdef

War escalates as Larijani falls; Australian troops unharmed at Gulf base Israeli airstrikes kill Iran's top security official Ali Larijani as Tehran's retaliation reaches Australian military personnel at Al Minhad Air Base near Dubai.

War escalates as Larijani falls; Australian troops unharmed at Gulf base

#IranIsraelWar #AusDef #MiddleEast #AusNews

thedailyperspective.org/article/2026-03-18-war-e...

Live: Australia will not send navy ship to Strait of Hormuz, minister says Australia will not be sending a navy ship to the Strait of Hormuz to protect oil-carrying vessels from Iranian attacks, the transport minister says. Follow live.

Transport Minister Catherine King says Australia won't be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz to protect ships.
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03... #auspol #ausdef

Albanese government to sell off $3bn worth of historic defence sites amid push to free up space for new homes Richard Marles has decided to sell more than 60 properties, including Victoria Barracks in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane

Albanese government to sell off $3bn worth of historic defence sites amid push to free up space for new homes. Richard Marles has decided to sell more than 60 properties, including Victoria Barracks in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne... #ausdef #auspol

But this “distraction” narrative might itself be a distraction from certain embarrassing facts. For example, while John Howard — a kind of anti-Keating who will happily trash any of his own policies from his time in office if it helps the current Liberal leadership — might insist gun laws aren’t the issue, it was his government that allowed the older of the perpetrators to migrate to Australia. It was during the Morrison government — which constantly hyped China as Australia’s biggest security threat — that the younger of the perpetrators was investigated by ASIO for his connections to a convicted Islamic State (IS) terrorist, with no action taken. The Coalition’s handpicked head of ASIO at the time, Duncan Lewis, later said that claims about the threat of China from that period had been “overegged” — raising the possibility that the politically motivated hyping of China distracted resources from a terrorism threat that had not retreated quite as far as some believed. Further, the older perpetrator’s application for a gun licence was approved by NSW Police under a NSW Coalition government in 2015, but lapsed, and he reapplied in 2020 — after his son had been investigated by ASIO. The licence was approved in 2023, the year the Coalition was replaced by Labor in NSW. If politicians really want to throw around blame, there’s a lot to go around. Journalists giving the likes of John Howard a platform might do well to remember that. But policymakers need to deal in facts. And the facts that are steadily being revealed are deeply concerning. A man whose son had been investigated for links to a convicted Islamic State-inspired terrorist was allowed to assemble an arsenal entirely legally — in a city that has been awash with guns and gun crime for years. We now also know that the alleged perpetrators travelled to a destination in the Philippines — a country with which they had no association of any kind — with links to IS, in November. It is now understood that they receiv

While the laxity of gun laws that allowed the assembly of an arsenal in suburban Sydney must be addressed, there are clearly equally serious problems in the ways police and intelligence officials share information. No-one, evidently, had a joined-up and complete file on the perpetrators, despite the steady accumulation of evidence that they needed examination. A Joint Counter Terrorism Team in NSW that is supposed to bring together different state and federal agencies is meant to address such information-sharing issues, but clearly did not. And there are also questions over the extent to which people investigated for terrorist links remain on the radar of ASIO, or whether they are filed away and forgotten — as seems to have been the case with the younger perpetrator. Did ASIO even know that he had travelled to the Philippines, and inquire of their Filipino counterparts where he had gone? That’s three major areas of our security framework requiring attention. Urgent attention. How many arsenals have been assembled, perfectly legally, by would-be terrorists in our cities right now? What potential exists for another horrific attack on Australia’s Jews, or any other members of our community? The idea that fixing these issues is any kind of “distraction” or a low priority is deeply dangerous. And the idea that implementing any of the recommendations of the report by antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal is relevant to the issues would be laughable were it not so tragic. Which of Segal’s recommendations would have addressed the failure to spot an IS terrorist preparing for an attack virtually in plain sight? The one about the government unlawfully regulating the editorial content of newspapers? The one about the government “educating” judges? The one about unlawfully terminating funding to universities because they allow pro-Palestinian protests on campuses? Not only have 15 lives been taken, and scores injured, and a nation deeply scarred by this atrocity, but Australians

Bondi exposed huge holes in our security framework. The right’s ‘distraction’ narrative will endanger all Australia.
www.crikey.com.au/2025/12/17/b... #auspol #ausdef #auslaw

As Australia rearranges the public servant desks at Russell Hill, with no addittional funding for defence .

Meanwhile, China and Japan are getting ready for war.

Looks like the Albo government is going to repeat the errors of the 1930s Lyons government.

#auspol #ausdef #ADF

Government unveils Department of Defence overhauls amid delays, blowouts Three groups within Defence will be rolled into one entity as part of a sweeping restructure of the department.

Same Captain.
Same crew.
Chairs.
Titanic.

#auspol #ausdef

🇦🇺🛡️ Aus defense is going on a spending spree! Testing Boeing’s “Ghost Bat” MQ-28A drone (a $1B investment!) marks a HUGE shift in military tech & independence. 🦇✈️ #AusDef #DroneTech #Military

PNG to provide 10,000 troops to Australia under new treaty plan A landmark defence treaty between Australia and Papua New Guinea has been approved by PNG's cabinet, marking Australia first new alliance in more than 70 years.

Papua New Guinea's cabinet approves 'Pukpuk' defence treaty with Australia
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10... #auspol #ausdef

The Trump administration will proceed with the AUKUS defense pact linking the U.S., U.K. and Australia, maintaining the original timeline that includes the sale of three Virginia-class submarines to Canberra beginning in 2032, Nikkei Asia has learned.
archive.is/k9RBm #auspol #ausdef

Interesting, todays new bot follower of mine on twitter didn't even try to hide their master's purpose. There was a follower list for the bot of #natsec and #ausdef bods along with a cohort of #RWNJ s with an interest in the South China Sea. Plus a few random people I guess to make it not obvious.🙄

‘Absolutely the best ship’: Japan wins $10bn contract to grow Australia’s war fleet Three Mogami-class frigates part of wider deal to replace ageing Anzac-class frigates and give navy a more lethal surface combatant fleet

Absolutely the best ship’: Japan wins $10bn contract to grow Australia’s war fleet. Three Mogami-class frigates part of wider deal to replace ageing Anzac-class frigates and give navy a more lethal surface combatant fleet.
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne... #ausdef

A Little-Known Microsoft Program Could Expose the Defense Department to Chinese Hackers The Pentagon bans foreign citizens from accessing highly sensitive data, but Microsoft bypasses this by using engineers in China and elsewhere to remotely instruct American “escorts” who may lack expe...

Holy shit, I wouldn't be surprised if the same thing has happened here in Australia, given the Oz Defence department just copies whatever the American DoD does. #auspol #ADF #ausdef

www.propublica.org/article/micr...

Uncertainty and delays loom over West Australian naval shipyard project Growing concern surrounds delays to a Western Australian project to build army water landing craft, amid fears other shipbuilding efforts could also be disrupted.

Oh FFS, come on, put some boots up these wannabe middle ranking Defence Dept Sir Humphreys. Having watched them in Senate Estimates, they clearly slow processes down deliberately for their own advancement & importance. PLA-N wont 🛑 stop #auspol #ausdef #adf

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06...

Interested in the explore connections btw the planetary crisis & geopolitical/national defence strategy?
Free lunchtime seminar, Tues 3rd June, 12-1pm, via unimelb.. register here:
events.humanitix.com/mcf-seminar-...
#ausdef #auspol #Climate #Strategy #Framing

Canada has turned to Australia as its relationship with the US crumbles Canada's decision to turn to Australia for help in beefing up its defence of the Arctic has raised eyebrows in the defence industry.

Australia's JORN defence radar is being bought by Canada, the decision is part of a wider shift
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05... #cdnpoli #auspol #ausdef

Only a third of Australians support increasing defence spending: new research The major parties have made defence a central part of their election campaigns. A new survey suggests, however, this is not cutting through with the public.

Only a third of Australians support increasing defence spending: new research from UNSW War Studies Research Group
theconversation.com/only-a-third...
Public attitudes towards the Australian Defence Force - Interim Report - April 2025
www.unsw.edu.au/content/dam/...
#auspol #ausvotes #ausdef

I genuinely hope the boffins under the 2nd Aukus pillar "undersea capabilities" are looking into this. As it would be embarrassing and reckless to be building very expensive submarines in the 2040s that can be sunk.

#auspol #aukus #ausdef #ADF #submarines #Taiwan #ausvotes

youtu.be/jiWtrVL4tmA?...

Poll shows Australians hate Trump policies and have lost trust in US, but still strongly believe in alliance A new Lowy poll shows Australian’s are losing faith with the American government but still value the alliance.

Lowy poll shows Australians hate Trump policies and have lost trust in US, but still strongly believe in alliance
theconversation.com/poll-shows-a... #auspol #ausdef #ausvotes
more details here
poll.lowyinstitute.org/report/2025/...

Canberra confirms no Russian planes to be stationed in Indonesian air base Indonesia has denied it will allow any Russian long-range aircraft at its air force base after reports send Canberra scrambling.

Canberra confirms Indonesia won't host Russian planes at air force base www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04... #auspol #ausdef

It is pretty clear that China 🇨🇳 is now preparing to invade Taiwan, with its Mulberry harbour bridge ships, mock air attacks, plus this below, and others. The direct issue for 🇦🇺 will 🇨🇳 take Ishigaki Island, off the coast of Taiwan, a Japanese island #auspol #ausdef #adf
www.scmp.com/news/china/s...

Aukus is dead in the water and was from the beginning. We need to be strengthening regional ties and investing in defence that is tied to that
#auspol #ausdef

It should be an order of 100, given that we gave Ukraine 100.
#ADF #ausdef

The Japanese should get the contract, they build their ships a third faster than the Germans and their fully capable with the Americans. We don't need a flash Mercedes, a reliable Lexus will do. #ausdef

Hearing protection recommended.
Brisbane's Fort Lytton still hosts several functional 64lb cannon. Fort Lytton is one of several coastal fortifications built along Australia's coast in the 1870s to safeguard shipping lanes and ports from possible enemy raids from Russia. #History #Military #AusDef

#auspol #ausdef #YourADF #Australia