Commentary

On top of staving off a China telco monopoly, underwriting the purchase would show the government is putting big money on the table to get ‘blue chip’ companies to invest in the Pacific. Originally published in the Australian Financial Review

Originally published in Nikkei Asia

Originally published in the Australian Financial Review. Australia has been invited to this gathering of friends, but has no say in any decisions about how to get China to play by the rules. That’s a risk for the years ahead

Originally published in East Asia Forum. 

How Australia has dealt with COVID-19 and the rift with China underscores changes in the national psyche. Originally published in The Australian Financial Review

It is hard to believe the world will easily forget China’s governing system allowed Covid to get out of hand and spread to the four corners of the Earth. Originally published in The Australian

Originally published in The Conversation. 

Tensions in the region are escalating, but trumpeting the coming threat of war plays into Beijing’s goals and risks undermining Taiwan further. Originally published in The Guardian

New terminology introduced by ASIO to describe violent extremist groups carefully avoids ‘right- or left-wing’ descriptors. But in not calling out right-wing extremism, is the national security agency guilty of double standards and bowing to the conservative side of politics? Originally

The Chinese president has rewritten the post-Mao rules, and the global implications could be profound. Originally published by Inside Story

Originally published in The Australian

If Xi Jinping had followed the rules, he would be stepping down next year. The longer he stays in office without an anointed successor, the greater the risk of a power struggle. Originally published in the Australian Financial Review

Originally published on GNET Insights

Australian companies are learning the risks of operating in markets where Washington and Beijing are feuding. Originally published in the Australian Financial Review

Originally published in The Canberra Times

Originally published in The Australian. 

Australia has rightly lost its fear of big deficits. But we must walk back debt in lockstep with private sector expansion. Originally published in The Australian Financial Review

It is five months since the last reported Covid-related death in Australia. But it is how we handle unemployment that will be one of the most critical issues. Originally published in The Australian

Originally published on GNET Insights

Originally published in The Jakarta Post

Originally published in The Mandarin

Beijing pushback a sign of its growing confidence abroad. Originally published in Nikkei Asia

Originally published in The Conversation

There’s a seminal shift underway in Australia’s relationship with the US based on mutual need and Morrison’s determination to act more forcefully. Originally published in The Australian