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The Great Defence Debate: Maritime Strategy vs Continental Defence — How Should Australia Protect Itself?
How to defend Australia
Should Australia's defence policy be built around maritime power projection and its alliance with the United States? Or does Australia's security lie closer to home — in a more self-reliant continental strategy less dependent on Washington?
These are among the most consequential and contested questions in Australian strategic policy — and at this Lowy Institute event, two of the country's sharpest defence thinkers went head to head to argue the case.
Jennifer Parker made the case for a maritime-focused defence policy, while Lowy Institute International Security Program Director Sam Roggeveen argued for a continental strategy less centred on the US alliance. The debate covered Australia's security posture, America's role in Asia, the AUKUS partnership, and much more. Each speaker delivered opening remarks before a moderated discussion led by Deputy Research Director Susannah Patton, concluding with questions from the audience.
Rigorous, direct, and genuinely contested, this is essential viewing for anyone seeking to understand the choices Australia faces in one of the most consequential periods in its strategic history.
Featuring
Jennifer Parker
Jennifer Parker is a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute and Adjunct Fellow in Naval Studies at the University of Western Australia.
Sam Roggeveen
Sam Roggeveen is Program Director of the Lowy Institute’s International Security Program. He is the author of The Echidna Strategy: Australia's Search for Power and Peace (Opens in new window), published by La Trobe University Press in 2023.
Susannah Patton
Susannah Patton is Director, Asia Engagement at RMIT and a Nonresident fellow at the Lowy Institute.
