So far I've enjoyed the laughs that #Raygun's performance and subsequent memes have gifted us. But if you're going to read one more-or-less serious piece, read this one. thesaturdaypaper.com.au/sport/2024/08/…

No British attack submarines at sea for over 47 days - It has been 47 days since any of Britain's nuclear-powered attack submarines were last deployed, and 121 days since a submarine from the new Astute-class was at sea. ukdefencejournal.org.uk/no-british-att…

🧵 Reforms to New Colombo Plan announced today by Assistant Foreign Minister Tim Watts foreignminister.gov.au/minister/penny…

Anthony Albanese confirms after meeting Prabowo in Canberra that negotiations have now been completed. The upgraded defence agreement will be signed by Marles in Jakarta in coming days

But Prabowo seems to think of the relationship less in terms of regional order and more as a neighbour-to-neighbour dynamic. So I remain sceptical of Australia billing it as a profound transformation.

'...expectations should not be too high. Jakarta’s deeper defence co-operation with Washington and Canberra has, for the most part, not driven a broader strategic alignment.' afr.com/world/asia/our…

🇬🇧 🇺🇸 🇦🇺 The new Government has appointed Boris Johnson’s former top security adviser, Stephen Lovegrove, as the Government’s AUKUS Adviser. He will help the UK maximise the benefits of AUKUS and unlock further opportunities within the historic partnership.

🧵 Poland-India Strategic Partnership: A Decade in the Making 1/6 🌍 The Poland-India strategic partnership is not a sudden development but the result of a decade of dedicated work by many individuals across various sectors. 🇵🇱🤝🇮🇳

Great first meeting with Catherine West MP, 🇬🇧 UK’s Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Indo-Pacific for her first visit to New Zealand. Catherine is combining her visit to the Pacific Islands Forum with visiting a good and reliable friend to the UK, New Zealand. 🇳🇿🇬🇧

🇬🇧🇳🇿🇹🇴 💥 Arriving with a £12.9 million bang. Minister for the Indo-Pacific Catherine West (Catherine West) has announced new climate funding the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) in Tonga. "The Government is seeking to...return to the forefront of international climate action."

British Indo-Pacific Minister goes to New Zealand with a key point of discussion being the war in Ukraine

In this Memorandum Alessio Patalano explores the key strategic principles to maximise the impact of the UK’s next defence review🌍 'Are we making the next defence review as future proof as we can?' britainsworld.org.uk/p/the-memorand…

Upping my AFR column from Monday this week: on the defence agreement with Indonesia. A positive for Aus strategic policy but the government over hyped it, a point stressed by Sarah Ferguson to Defence Minister Richard Marles on the 730 report last night.

'AUKUS enabling framework' a new one A potential need for a 'co-ordinated approach to adjacent policy areas' (Barrow) seems...obvious? 'Adequacy and appropriateness of official Whitehall structures' could come up short. AUKUS Department?😂

'The defence review, therefore, would need to widen the case for defence and explain why the well-being of the armed forces and the MOD will amount to little unless British society considers the utility of nurturing its endeavours.'

'Beyond transiting through Indonesia, Australia no doubt harbours grander ambitions to use enhanced defence cooperation with Indonesia in a diplomatic shaping context...' aspistrategist.org.au/australia-indo…

What can government do to make big business put security above profit? 🌍 We asked 7 experts in today’s Big Ask… ✍️Ben Brittain , Dr Ksenia Kirkham, Patrick Horgan, Elizabeth Lindley , Charles Parton, Mann , Andrew Yeh britainsworld.org.uk/p/the-big-ask-…

Below added to 🇬🇧's Defence Review Team which are 'undertaking root and branch review of UK defence'

Australian statement on recent Chinese ramming in South China Sea. 'dangerous and aggressive actions' dfat.gov.au/news/media-rel…

PIF denies tinkering with leaders communique due to Chinese demands. Multiple sources say same thing: yes the PRC was hectoring PIF over the Taiwan section. But communique was taken down because PIF put up the wrong version. *Quite* the stuff-up abc.net.au/news/2024-09-0…