‘Transparency lacking in Australian defence policy‘, Independent Australia, 19 October 2021 updated
Update 28 October 2021: see also this from Marcus Reubenstein reprinted in Pearls & Irritations.
Update 9 December 2021: More on ASPI from Michelle Fahy in Declassified Australia, showing how its original independent ambitions have been compromised.
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The writer, President of Medical Association for Prevention of War, argues that we need to know more about the sponsorship and financial backing of supposedly ‘independent’ think tanks, notably the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, various Australia-US bodies, and the Lowy Institute.
With some of the most prominent think tanks on defence and foreign policy receiving funds from companies that rely on war and threats of war, Australians are being fed vested interests masquerading as ‘independent’ opinion. The article goes into detail about some of these links.
‘The time has come’, Dr Wareham concludes, ‘for the media to ask specifically about the funding behind commentary from “defence experts” before repeating it. The evidence shows that a declaration of “independence” can no longer be taken at face value.’
This plea for transparency is particularly relevant to recent commentary on AUKUS.