Attendees of ADM’s Northern Australia Defence Summit (NADS) in Darwin on 29 April were reminded of how critical the region has become when set against the backdrop of the rapidly deteriorating strategic circumstances.
In his opening keynote address, former US Marine Corps Lieutenant General John Wissler provided a sobering assessment of the threats in our region which, he said, had markedly worsened since he gave a similar presentation at NADS 2024.
“China is now without peer in the Indo-Pacific,” he warned. “Whether it will be a regional or global hegemony is their choice, not if it will be a hegemony.”
Now working for the DefenceNT Strategy Group, part of the NT Government, Wissler told delegates that Chinese President Xi has directed that the country's military forces are ready to conduct combat operations as early as 2027.
“Their training is no longer training, that training is now rehearsal for combat operations," he said.
Wissler also highlighted the strategic importance of Australia’s north – and Darwin in particular – to regional deterrence and he noted Russia’s renewed interest in the Indo-Pacific.
“Darwin is close enough to make a difference, but far enough away to be resilient,” he told delegates, while criticising the current lack of preparedness.
“A vision without resources is a hallucination (and) there is no doubt we are in an unparalleled period of change. We need to be responsive and capitalise on northern Australia’s strategic geography.”
Wissler’s presentation was followed by a keynote address from Brigadier Mick Say, Director General – Force Policy Initiatives Branch of Defence’s International Policy Division.
BRIG Say provided NADS attendees with an overview of investments across Australia’s north under the US Force Posture Initiative (FPI).
"The pace and scale of engagement with the US is significant, and growing,” he said, before hinting at further developments to be formalised in the Australia-United States Ministerial (AUSMIN) Consultation to be held later this year.
“AUSMIN ’25 will be crucial for Australia (and) will lead to a number of announcements regarding the next FPI steps,” he said.
In-depth coverage of the NADS conference will appear in the June issue of ADM.