Former governor-general warns Australia to step up its defence and national security efforts

It is an indisputable reality that much of the peace, prosperity, and stability of the post-Second World War paradigm came as a direct result of the US-led “rules-based global order” or some variation of that term.

By putting an end to the often-ancient rivalries between competing imperial powers, the United States, through its post-war economic and strategic might, coupled with immense political capital, guaranteed the freedom of the seas and promoted an explosion of free trade across the globe, paving the way for the modern, interconnected global economy and period of innovation we enjoy today.

Through this might, both conventional and strategic arsenal, the United States established what has become known as a “strategic umbrella”, where for greater input into their ally’s security policy and easier access to their markets, the United States would agree to do larger parts of the heavy lifting on the global geostrategic stage.

Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Western Europe, and parts of Asia were the major beneficiaries of this new “globalised world” and the radically new approach to global power relations which would be ironed out at the Bretton Woods Conference and the formation of multilateral organs like the United Nations, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund.

Fast forward to today and the world we face is vastly different to that of the post-Second World War era, with the bipolar dominance of the global ecosystem by the United States and Soviet Union having been replaced by an increasingly competitive, contested and dangerous world.

This is spearheaded by the rise of the People’s Republic of China and resurgence of Russia, supported by the emergence of India, Brazil, Indonesia, Vietnam, South Korea and a host of other nations that will meet the criteria of a great or superpower over the coming decades, stretching the capacity and willingness of the United States to maintain its post-war world order.

In the Australian context, this predicament presents a significant challenge as the nation grapples with the reality of a multipolar world and the implications of a global environment where its “great and powerful friend” and primary strategic benefactor in the United States is no longer unopposed, placing increased emphasis on our own capacity to protect and promote our national interests.

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Bringing us to commentary made by former governor-general, Chief of Defence and one of Australia’s most decorated generals, Sir Peter Cosgrove AK, CVO, MC in The Weekend Australian, in which he issued a poignant and timely reminder for the nation’s policymakers and public: prepare to face a more hostile world.

Adapt or perish

Australia has long benefited from the geographic isolation from many of the great conflagrations throughout the 19th and 20th century, respectively, with this isolation becoming known as the “tyranny of distance”.

For many Australians, this “tyranny of distance” is often cause for anger and distaste as we are forced to grapple with higher prices to travel, higher prices for imported consumer goods and a myriad of other largely financial impacts.

However, for much of the preceding two centuries, this has served as our protective cocoon, shielding us in larger part from the dangers of a multipolar world. Today, however, in a globalised world, we face not only a multipolar world but also a multipolar region with multiple competing centres of economic, political and strategic weight close to home.

Highlighting this, Sir Peter Cosgrove explained to The Australian’s Cameron Stewart, “We are more obliged to consider our national defence than we have been for very many years ... We need to be more observant of our own vulnerability and the fact that the benign and remote nature of this part of the world is not as benign and not nearly as ­remote.”

While the government has, over the past two years, sought to respond to the scenario presented by General Cosgrove, mainly through the release of the policy documents like the 2023 Defence Strategic Review, the 2024 National Defence Strategy and supporting Integrated Investment Program and, of course, the Independent Analysis into Navy’s Surface Combatant Fleet, this ominous warning requires greater consideration and acceptance by Australia’s policymaking community and corresponding response.

Highlighting the need for greater Australian investment in manpower, materiel and critical defence resources, General Cosgrove added, “We are not able, at the moment, to recruit and retain enough of our brilliant people. We need to keep them and recruit others. So the manpower aspect has to be addressed ... Then we need very modern technologies. A lot of the stuff that we had (has) rapidly fallen into obsolescence and (other powers are) fielding new and very potent capabilities in the region, like hyper velocity missiles and an enormous jump in cyber capabilities.”

Final thoughts

Australia, as a nation, is defined by its economic, political, and strategic relationships with the Indo-Pacific and the access to the growing economies and strategic sea lines of communication supporting over 90 per cent of global trade, so the success, stability, and prosperity of this region is intrinsically linked to our own.

Despite the nation’s virtually unrivalled wealth of natural resources, agricultural and industrial potential, there is a lack of a cohesive national strategy and ambition integrating the development of individual, yet complementary public policy strategies to support a more robust and ambitious Australian role in the region.

Regardless of whether we are in a “pre-war” or traditional “Cold War” environment, it is clear that successive generations of Australian leaders have let the country down, too entranced and seduced by the promise of “Peace Dividends” and the “End of History” to recognise the cold reality of the world, particularly developing concurrently with the “Clash of Civilisations” during the Global War on Terror.

Accordingly, shifting the public discussion and debate away from the default Australian position of “It is all a little too difficult, so let’s not bother” will provide unprecedented economic, diplomatic, political and strategic opportunities for the nation.

Get involved with the discussion and let us know your thoughts on Australia’s future role and position in the Indo-Pacific region and what you would like to see from Australia’s political leaders in terms of partisan and bipartisan agenda setting in the comments section below, or get in touch at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..