North of 26° south and the security of Australia: views from The Strategist, Volume 13 brings together articles published in ASPI's The Strategist over the past six months, examining the strategic, economic and policy challenges shaping northern Australia's future.
Building on previous editions, this volume expands its focus through thematic chapters that explore:
- Sovereignty and strategic resilience
- Building the North
- Critical minerals and economic security
- Indigenous partnership and agricultural security
The articles are authored by a diverse group of experts across national security, economic policy, infrastructure, regional development and defence. Together, they examine how northern Australia is increasingly central to Australia's strategic posture, economic resilience and long-term national preparedness.
Volume 13 also features a foreword by Senator the Hon Nita Green, Assistant Minister for Northern Australia. This foreword frames northern Australia as central to the nation's security, economic resilience, and regional engagement at a time of growing global uncertainty. It highlights how key challenges of fuel security, logistics, infrastructure, and climate adaptation are already lived realities in the north and positions the region as critical to Australia's 2026 National Defence Strategy. The foreword points to northern Australia's role in critical minerals, renewable energy, and advanced manufacturing as foundations for sovereign capability, and notes the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility's $4.5 billion in commitments as a key enabler of development. It closes by emphasising that lasting progress depends on partnership with First Nations peoples, local communities, and regional industries, and that investing in the north is ultimately an investment in Australia's ability to shape its own future.
Across 14 articles, this compendium examines the growing role of northern Australia in Australia's national security, defence posture and economic resilience. The contributions explore issues including strategic infrastructure, defence capability, economic security, critical minerals, industrial development and regional resilience. Collectively, the articles argue that northern Australia is no longer a peripheral policy concern, but a central test of Australia's ability to translate strategic ambition into sustained national capability, resilience and long-term economic security.
