Security parallels with 1940s, says Clare O’Neil

Australians are facing the most complex geostrategic challenges since World War II, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil has warned.

Clare O'Neil says ‘we are living through a time of strategic challenge and tension for Australians’. Picture: Martin Ollman

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil has warned that Australians are entering a post-peace per­iod of high tension as the world faces the most complex geo-strategic challenges since World War II, and the country needs to bolster its domestic ­security in response.

While seeking to reassure ­people that there was no prospect of war or conflict being imminent, there were parallels with the 1940s that needed to be drawn from to build national resilience.

In a speech to the Curtin ­Research Institute in Melbourne on Monday night, Ms O’Neil also hailed the AUKUS deal to acquire and build nuclear-powered submarines as one of the most significant decisions the government had taken.

But she said there had been a wasted decade in not preparing the country for the broader challenges, likening the Albanese government’s approach to John Curtin’s wartime leadership.

“We are living through a time of strategic challenge and tension for Australians, and for the world,” Ms O’Neil told the Labor Party faithful.

“Before I draw any parallels with the 1940s, let me be very clear: Australia is not at war, nor are we about to be at war.

“Our Prime Minister has said that we face the most challenging geostrategic circumstances since the second world war.

“So while we are focused on ensuring peace and stability, working to shape our strategic circumstances in our nation’s best interests is and must be one of our government’s core endeavours.”

Ms O’Neil drew parallels with the Curtin era and the lessons on using crisis to shape the future.

“During the war, Curtin and Chifley drew up plans for a 20th-century Australia: a big migration program, full employment, a welfare state and a strong industrial base,” she said. “And they used the crisis to create it. As I said earlier, we are not at war – nor is the prospect imminent. But our ­security situation is changing.

“We in this room have lived through an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity … Every indication we have tells us that the decades ahead will not be as ­benign.

“A world of precarious global dynamics, of unknowable technological risks, and unstoppable climate impacts will reshape life in our region. This is the world my children will have to navigate.

“Our job is to govern in a way that will give that next generation the best chance of a secure and prosperous Australia.”