Alternative Defence Policy for Australia

Our task is to continue to stimulate public discussion on alternative defence policies for an independent Australia which  would equip and confine the ADF to defence of territorial Australia only including its approach waters and seek to firm up on an appropriate policy.

Download the IPAN Alternative Self-Defence Policy for an Independent Australia  (adopted by IPAN Coordinating Committee on 24 March 2025)
IPAN Alternative Self-Defence Policy March 2025

View the latest Webinar on Alternative Defence here:
Navigate to the following time in the video for each speaker:
2:55   Shirley Winton
18:48  David Shoebridge
42:00 Alison Broinowsky
58:15   Pascal Lottaz
1:16:00 Discussion
See details below.

IPAN WEBINAR: Wednesday, 14th May 2025 “Let’s Talk Alternative Defence for Australia—Free from the US Alliance”

Current Australian defence policy is based on interoperability and interchangeability with the United States. This dependent relationship has drawn Australia into disastrous wars, including Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Can Australia defend itself without participation in the US alliance? Are alternative defence policies possible? What would a genuine self-defence posture look like in a truly independent Australia?

Facilitator: Kelli Tranter :    Kelli Tranter is a lawyer and human rights activist. She has delivered addresses, chaired workshops and participated in public debates on issues like climate change, human rights and gender equality at local, national and international conferences, including speeches opposing unjustified wars and economic exploitation. She has held office with BPW International and her activism has been acknowledged by the Women’s Electoral Lobby.

Shirley Winton is a is a founding member of the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network, established in 2011. She is also a founding member of the Australian Anti-AUKUS Coalition and No AUKUS Victoria. All of her adult life Shirley has been active in struggles and campaigns for justice, democratic rights and for Australia’s independence from U.S. domination. In 2002-2003 Shirley was active in the Victorian Peace Network organising and mobilising the grassroots movements against the Iraq War. Until her retirement she was a union organiser for many years in both the Communication Workers’ Union (Postal Division) and the National Tertiary Education Union. In 2017, along with other unionists she initiated Peace is Union Business.

Senator David Shoebridge is a member of the Australian Greens and was elected to the Senate as the party’s lead candidate in New South Wales at the 2022 federal election. His portfolios include Justice (including Attorney-General, Drug Law Reform, Firearms, Territory Rights and the National Anti-Corruption Commission) Defence & Veterans Affairs Digital Rights, Home Affairs, Immigration, Citizenship & Multicultural Affairs.

Dr Alison Broinowski, AM FAIIA FAHA: Former Australian diplomat, academic, author, Board member of World Beyond War and Australian for War Powers Reform. Alison joined the Australian foreign service in 1963 and then alternated between living and working in Japan, Burma (Myanmar), the Philippines, South Korea, Jordan, Mexico, and the US (UN New York). She is the author or editor of 14 books and many articles on Australia’s interface with the world, particularly Asia. Her books include Howard’s War, 2003 and Allied and Addicted, 2007. After 1996 she taught and researched international relations at the Australian National University, Macquarie University, and the University of Wollongong. She lives in Sydney, Australia with Richard Broinowski, a former Australian ambassador.

Pascal Lottaz: Dr Pascal Lottaz is an Adjunct Researcher at the Waseda Institute for Advanced Study (Tokyo), and Adjunct Professor for European Politics at Temple University Japan Campus. He is leading the research network NeutralityStudies.com His other recent book publications include Sweden, Japan, and the Long Second World War (Routledge, 2022), Permanent Neutrality: A Model for Peace, Security, and Justice (Lexington Books, 2020), and Notions of Neutralities (Lexington Books, 2019). He also wrote an article on “Neutrality Studies” for Oxford Encyclopedia and “The Politics and Diplomacy of Neutrality” for Oxford Bibliography.

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