The world is less stable and less predictable than it has been in generations, marked by profound and disruptive change, with the unsettling promise of more to come.
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The Middle East has been rocked by an unexpected war in Gaza, Russia continues its unjust war against Ukraine, and persistent tensions in the South China Sea threaten to flare at any moment.
Malicious cyber attackers are threatening critical infrastructure and stealing intellectual property.
The effects of climate change bring new challenges to the Pacific and south-east Asia and our information environment is increasingly awash with disinformation.
On top of all this, the world is on the verge of revolutionary change with advancements in artificial intelligence and other game-changing technological developments, each of which brings enormous potential benefits but also risks of a nature we have not faced before.
Australia is a more influential player than it has ever been before in international affairs. We need to embrace this responsibility - starting with having the right national security architecture to help deal with the hyperspeed of global developments and ensure the government can execute the integrated statecraft needed to navigate today's complex international environment.
The most obvious gap right now is the absence of a dedicated and autonomous national security adviser (NSA) who reports to the prime minister and can speak with a trusted voice both internationally and domestically on Australia's most pressing interests and priorities.
Without such a position, Australia is missing out on a seat at the table at key global meetings, which are the best chances to exercise the kind of influence we want, need and deserve.
What's more, it means the government lacks an authoritative representative who can help set the tone and focus of our strategic communications across all international security issues.
Most countries - including our most important partners - have an NSA. These roles are as senior as it gets, often equivalent to a department head or even a minister. NSAs have the ear of the leader, travel with them and are always available for briefings and policy advice.
Critically, most NSAs also maintain their own remit of policy work and their own busy travel schedules separate from their president or prime minister.
NSAs are increasingly public-facing, giving interviews, press conferences and speeches both at home and abroad, issuing statements and adding their name - and their country's imprimatur - to communiques alongside NSA counterparts, providing a crucial avenue for collectives of countries to express shared concerns or endorsement.
They travel extensively and convene gatherings. This is vital to Australia given part of our growing influence comes through our membership of international groupings such as the Quad, AUKUS and the Five Eyes, and our deepening networks across the Pacific, south-east and north Asia.
The role is standard across Europe and the Middle East. Some, including India and Japan, also have senior NSA Deputies who share the travel and convening load.
The remit of a typical NSA is broad, covering regional tensions and conflict, critical technologies, economic security, nuclear issues, counter-terrorism, hybrid threats, climate security and more. A large part of the value is that NSAs can weave together all aspects of global security, addressing evolving and emerging challenges - in close co-ordination with our partners and allies. India's influential NSA Ajit Doval, a former intelligence and police chief, travels with Modi but is empowered to convene, negotiate and implement policy on the prime minister's behalf.
In the past year, he has brought together NSAs from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and BRICs countries, met with NSAs from the Middle East and continued his long-running cooperation with US NSA Jake Sullivan to build US-India links in critical technologies.
All the while he contributes to the public debate in India on issues ranging from counter-terrorism to cyber security.
The NSAs of the US, Japan and the Philippines held their first joint talks in June, agreed to strengthen security cooperation and discussed key challenges such as China and North Korea, while NATO NSAs have held major gatherings to discuss everything from deterrence to technological innovation to climate change.
Amidst this boom in engagement, Australia is not in the room.
In the busy and complex global environment we're in, it's a terrible time to be at such a disadvantage. Of course, we have senior national security officials, intelligence chiefs, ambassadors and influential ministerial advisers.
But none fill all the criteria of autonomy, ability to speak publicly and dedication to the particular relationships needed with counterpart NSAs.
Intelligence chiefs are senior but can't lead policymaking and already have a world of counterparts to engage. Ministerial advisers are influential domestically, with a senior adviser in the PMO traditionally seen as our closest equivalent to an NSA. They have the prime minister's ear, including on overseas trips, and regularly talk to partners.
But they don't speak publicly, don't have their own policy remit or voice, don't travel separately to the Prime Minister and don't put out joint statements.
Even when invited, they simply can't be present at the increasingly high rotation of NSA meetings, where trust and personal relationships are built and decisions are made. Most importantly, they are not seen to be an equivalent or accessible counterpart by our global partners.
Many decisions are made before world leaders actually meet. This year's Camp David summit with the leaders of Japan, South Korea and the US was a historic achievement and astounding for anyone who knows the history of disagreements between the two Asian neighbours.
But the fact these countries were growing closer on security would have been less of a surprise to anyone who'd tracked the public meetings of their three NSAs in 2022 and 2023.
Other countries use their NSAs to speak up on security matters when their political leaders do not wish to do so. This means that when a country like China breaches international rules and laws but leaders and ministers don't wish to risk fanning political tensions, our partners can issue NSA-led statements, which is viewed as consequential while less confrontational. Australia doesn't have this option.
Australia has circled this issue before. Kevin Rudd created an NSA position in 2008, originally filled by Duncan Lewis, who went on to be head of Defence and later ASIO.
While prescient, the position was put in the public service and lacked legislative backing, the authority and the staff to be truly effective and was eventually folded. Australia is well-placed to learn from this experience.
Australia in 2023 is a substantial regional power with global interests. We should have the personnel commensurate with this status. As the urgency and implications of regional and global security issues increase, a dedicated NSA would allow Australia the potential to short circuit bureaucratic processes to get a seat at the table where key decisions impacting us, and our region, are taken.
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It would amplify our voice in prosecuting our strategy to the audiences we most need to win over. It's not in Australia's interests for this absence to continue. There will be risk aversion and turf encroachment concerns in Canberra, but in a period of overlapping crises, in which global security policy is ascendant and every country is clamouring to assert its narrative, Australia needs to seize every possibility to shape conversations and outcomes - both in private and public.
An NSA would also allow the government to better capitalise on the huge investments we are making in AUKUS, in mechanisms like the Quad and in stepping up our regional relationships.
As we enter 2024 with global conflicts and the promise of more unforeseen security events, Australia's ability to navigate the world would be strengthened by appointing an influential and autonomous NSA who can work hand in glove with their global counterparts in tenacious pursuit of our interests.
- Danielle Cave is director, executive, research and strategy at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.