Peter Jennings

Peter Jennings is director of Strategic Analysis Australia and was executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute from 2012 to 2022. He is a former deputy secretary for strategy in the Defence Department (2009-12).

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Inquirer

TOPSHOT - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange gives thumbs up after arriving at Canberra Airport in Canberra on June 26, 2024, after he pleaded guilty at a US court in Saipan to a single count of conspiracy to obtain and disseminate US national defence information. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange returned home to Australia to start life as a free man June 26 after admitting he revealed US defence secrets in a deal that unlocked the door to his London prison cell. (Photo by WILLIAM WEST / AFP)

Ask our Diggers what they think of Assange, Mr Albanese

ADF deaths and woundings in Afghanistan serve as a reminder of the need to acknowledge ‘different views’ about the return of the deeply idiosyncratic man the PM welcomed home.

INQUIRER

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is greeted by Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Tuesday, November 7, 2023. Picture: PMO

Albanese’s three fudges on China weaken us

The price Australia pays for Anthony Albanese’s stabilised engagement with communist China – with the mantra ‘co-operate, disagree, engage’ – is that all substance is drained from the relationship.

INQUIRER

Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump holds up a fist as he arrives back at Trump Tower after being convicted in his criminal trial in New York City, on May 30, 2024. A panel of 12 New Yorkers were unanimous in their determination that Donald Trump is guilty as charged -- but for the impact on his election prospects, the jury is still out. The Republican billionaire was convicted of all 34 charges in New York on May 30, 2024, and now finds himself bidding for a second presidential term unsure if he'll be spending 2025 in the Oval Office, on probation or in jail. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP)

This trial hasn’t finished Trump — it’s invigorated him

Donald Trump is a lithe, politically agile, driven, endlessly moving, entertaining media performer: every development is turned into a fundraising opportunity or a political rally.

commentary

(FILES) Taiwan's Vice President and presidential candidate of ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Lai Ching-te leaves a booth as he holds his ballot papers to vote in the presidential election at a polling station in a high school in Tainan on January 13, 2024. Taiwan's president-elect Lai Ching-te, a stanch defender of the island's democracy, will be sworn into office on May 20 as Beijing ratchets up military and diplomatic pressure on Taipei. (Photo by Yasuyoshi CHIBA / AFP)

Forging Taipei links a test of deterrence against Beijing bullies

On Monday, Lai Ching-te will be inaugurated as president of Taiwan. It is way past time for Australia to step up its engagement with a stable, democratic trading partner.

Commentary

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MAY 01: Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles during a Australia and South Korea Foreign and Defence Ministers meeting on May 1, 2024 in Melbourne, Australia. South Korea and Australia were set to hold "two plus two" talks among their foreign and defense ministers Wednesday, as the two countries seek to deepen cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, defense and other areas, media reports said. (Photo by Asanka Brendon Ratnayake-Pool/Getty Images)

Beijing’s bullying needs to be called out, loud and clear

Albanese should not lose an opportunity to push back against Beijing’s bullying as a way to correct the impression that he has been too fawning and susceptible to Communist Party flattery.

Inquirer

Seven people have been arrested after search warrants at 13 locations were executed in Sydney and Goulburn today, as part of a Joint Counter Terrorism Team (JCTT) Sydney investigation.About 11.15am today (Wednesday 24 April 2024) investigators executed search warrants at 13 locations across a number of suburbs in Sydney including Bankstown, Prestons, Casula, Lurnea, Rydalmere, Greenacre, Strathfield, Chester Hill, and Punchbowl, as well as a premises in Goulburn.The operation involved more than 400 police.Seven juvenile males have been arrested. A further five people, including two men and three juvenile males, are assisting police with their inquiries.A number of items have also been seized as a result of todayâs activity, including a significant amount of electronic material. Operational activity remains ongoing.Todayâs warrants follow a stabbing incident at Wakeley on the evening of 15 April 2024. A 16-year-old boy has been charged over that incident and remains before the courts.There is no specific threat to public safety and no threat to Anzac Day commemorations.The Joint Counter Terrorism Team Sydney is comprised of members from the NSW Police Force, Australian Federal Police, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) and NSW Crime Commission.Anyone with information about extremist activity or possible threats to the community should come forward, no matter how small or insignificant you think the information may be. The National Security Hotline is 1800 123 400.Picture: NSW Police

Anthony Albanese turns a deaf ear to Australia’s rising terror threat

No one should be surprised that the radicalisation trail leads directly to recent Islamist extremist violence in the Middle East. So why has the Albanese government been so tolerant of aggressive protests on our streets?

Commentary

Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying mass when he was stabbed multiple times. Picture: Facebook.

Wakeley terror attack: Seven questions our leaders must answer

In an age of government information control, we may not see reliable information about the identity, background and motives of the 16-year-old attacker.

Commentary

Iran blitz exposes peace ‘fantasy’ of Labor foreign policy

Domestic posturing undermines our stake in the Middle East, makes us look like a fair-weather friend, deeply worries Australian Jews and enables the rise of extremist sentiment. So much for a more ‘nuanced’ foreign policy.

commentary

Current Chief of the Australian Defence Force General Angus Campbell (left) and incoming Chief of the Australian Defence Force Vice Admiral David Johnston pose for photographs at the Russell buildings in Canberra, Tuesday, April 9, 2024. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch) NO ARCHIVING

Change, not continuity, is what’s needed

It is striking over the past few decades how the ADF has shaped the characteristics of modern generalship.

Commentary

Secretary of Home Affairs Mike Pezzullo appears in the Senate Budget Estimates 2020Ã21 Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture by Sean Davey.

In defence of Mike Pezzullo

I have known Mike Pezzullo for the better part of 20 years and, to be candid, have not always liked his methods. But stripping him of his AO would be unacceptably punitive.

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/peter-jennings