As part of the national Defence White Paper Consultation program, on Tuesday, 02 September 2014 17 members of the AIIA gave their recommendations to the Defence White Paper Expert panel for the planned 2015 White Paper.

The AIIA forum meeting was conducted as a round-table over one and a half hours, with the AIIA hosting three members of the Expert Panel – Retired Rear Admiral James Goldrick, Adjunct Professor in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences in the University of New South Wales; Rory Medcalf, Director of the International Security Program at the Lowy Institute; and Dr Stephan Fruehling, Senior Lecturer at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University.
Also in attendance were AIIA ACT Branch President Cameron Hawker, Presidential Associate Ian Dudgeon and an official note-taker from the Department of Defence.

The forum focused on threats to Australia’s Security and Strategic interests, and possible Defence strategies for addressing those threats. Also discussed were Australia’s defence relationships with other countries, both within the Indo-Pacific region and further abroad; the priorities for capability investment; and pathways for investing in and enhancing Defence culture.

The forum was conducted under Chatham House rules. Interesting discussion was heard regarding China’s position in the Indo-Pacific region; the strategic utility of a closer Australian-Japanese defence relationship; and means to enhance awareness of Defence’s work through innovative and well-articulated government communication.

Those wishing to send individual submissions to the Defence White Paper expert panel may do so using the online submission form on the Defence Department’s website, or by sending a hardcopy to the Department of Defence:

R1-3-A135
Russel Offices
Department of Defence
PO Box 7901
CANBERRA BC ACT 2610

W: www.defence.gov.au/whitepaper
E: defencewhitepaper@defence.gov.au