North of 26° South and the Security of Australia Views from the Strategist Vol
STRATEGIC STRATEGIC INSIGHTS North of 26° south and the security of Australia Views from The Strategist Vol. 2 152 Paul Barnes, Luke Bowen, David Burke, Luke Courtois, John Coyne, Hal Crichton-Standish, Malcolm Davis, Rhys De Wilde, Graeme Dunk, Genevieve Feely, Luke Gosling, Marcus Hellyer, Corinda Hollis, Peter Jennings, Mason Littlejohn, David Malone, Tony McCormack, James Rickard, Lucy Rodgers, Andy Singh and Nicholas Thomson. Supporting a rare-earths industry in Australia Genevieve Feely and Rhys De Wilde, 12 July 2019 Last month, Stephen Kuper highlighted his concerns about the security of the global supply chain for rare-earth elements (REEs), particularly as it relates to sustaining the US defence force. Right now, it’s a bleak outlook. The Chinese government dominates the global supply of REEs and has demonstrated an increased willingness to use that as leverage against America and its allies during the continuing US–China trade war. However, it’s not all bad news. Anxiety over access to supply chains could create an important strategic and economic opportunity for the Australian government, a suggestion raised elsewhere in the media recently. With new thinking, and the right investments, Australia could source and process REEs. Image courtesy: ullstein bild/Getty Images May 2020 2 Strategic Insights REEs are essential for manufacturing of a range of everyday products, such as mobile phones, refrigerators and cars. They also play a critical role in the production and maintenance of the world’s cutting-edge defence capabilities. REEs didn’t get a mention in the 2016 defence white paper, but, more recently, Defence Minister Linda Reynolds has recognised that securing the supply of REEs is in our strategic interest.
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