‘Command and control’: Labor’s cuts to hawkish think tank raises hackles

A high-profile think tank known for its hawkish views of the Chinese Communist Party is set to have its funding cut as the result of a review that will allow the federal government to exert more influence over national security research.

Former Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade head Peter Varghese briefed think-tank bosses on Wednesday about the findings of his review of national security strategic policy work, which the government plans to release publicly later this week.

Former Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade boss Peter Varghese has briefed think tank leaders on the findings of his review.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

Think tanks that rely on the federal government for core funding would have to apply for competitive grants every five years, and the government would have observer status on their governing councils under Varghese’s recommendations.

Sources familiar with Varghese’s confidential briefings said that the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) and the Australian American Leadership Dialogue (AALD) were set to be two big losers from the review.

Since the review was announced in February, Australia’s strategic policy community has been abuzz with speculation the audit was driven in part by a desire among senior public servants and Labor figures to rein in ASPI, a Canberra think tank established in 2001 and led by former Liberal Party staffer Justin Bassi.

While saying he could not go into detail because of the confidential nature of the briefings, Bassi said: “I can say that the early impressions that this review was an effort to clamp down on ASPI and the contestability it provides on national security policy have been confirmed. Even more importantly, it sends a clear signal to all Australian national security think tanks that the government will exercise greater command and control over their work.”

Executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute Justin Bassi.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

Officials from the Chinese embassy in Canberra included government funding for “anti-China” research at ASPI on an infamous list of 14 grievances provided to journalists from Nine News and this masthead in 2020.

ASPI received about $8 million a year in government funding – more than half its annual budget – with most coming through the Defence Department.

The institute raises funds from foreign governments (chiefly the US), defence firms and other sponsors.

Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said the government would be “capitulating” to Beijing if it followed the review’s recommendations.

“This will have a chilling effect on all researchers working on the Chinese Communist Party and send the clear message your funding could be cut if you displease the Chinese government,” he said.

Paterson said opening up ASPI’s core funding to competitive tender may sound appealing but would serve to shatter the institute’s financial independence.

“This completely undermines why the government established ASPI in the first place,” he said.

Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said cutting think tank funding could have a “chilling effect”.Credit: Joe Armao

Sources said that Varghese, currently the chancellor of the University of Queensland, has recommended the government make ASPI compete for its core funding and cut off funding the institute’s office in Washington.

The Washington office was opened in 2022 under a $5 million grant awarded by then defence minister Peter Dutton, who said he hoped it would “become the go-to place in Washington for think-tank perspectives on Australian defence and security policy”.

Government sponsorship for the AALD – which holds annual invite-only, off-the-record gatherings in the US and Australia – is also under a cloud.

Sources briefed by Varghese said he had called for more government funding for strategic policy research, but concluded the current funding arrangements are too ad-hoc and lack transparency and accountability.

Under his recommendations, a high-powered panel of public servants known as the Secretaries Committee on National Security would set priorities for strategic policy research funded by the government.

Economic security and Asia would be early priorities, sources said.

China’s President Xi Jinping last month. Officials from the Chinese embassy in Canberra included government funding for “anti-China” research at ASPI on an infamous list of 14 grievances provided to journalists in 2020.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“The government is reaching into the think-tank community and will have more control over what think tanks do,” one concerned source said.

Others said they welcomed a more transparent and competitive think-tank sector.

“The government is going to give us more money and we will need to account for it better,” another source said.

The findings will affect institutions including the Asia Society, the Lowy Institute, the University of Sydney’s United States Studies Centre and the Australian National University’s National Security College.

Think tanks such as ASPI would need a government representative with observer status on their board or governing council, a move some argued carried troubling implications for their independence from government.

Senior ministers have bristled at some of ASPI’s work, including a report this year that accused the government of exposing the nation by moving too slowly to increase defence funding.

Prominent American politicians and military leaders rallied behind the think tank, praising its research into the oppression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang province.

The government has been contacted for comment.

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