Australia’s West Papua Dilemma

Author: Aiden Riley, ANU

In West Papua separatist sentiment has failed to disappear after decades. While Australia remains involved with its twin Papua New Guinea, the culturally and ethnically similar West Papua has endured continual neglect, corruption and human rights abuses. Demands for independence are continually repressed by Indonesia. How should Australia as both a key player in the region and with storied history on the island of New Guinea respond?

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Preparing young people for an uncertain future

Author: Alexi Heazle, Australian Crisis Simulation Summit

There is no doubt that Australia is entering a new era of heightened national security concerns. The Black Summer bushfire season highlighted inadequacies in climate-security thinking and disaster response policy in Australia. Although lessons were learned by the Coalition government, demonstrated in its relatively effective response to containing the spread of COVID-19, the widespread impacts of the pandemic were virtually impossible to predict.

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