At the start of the year, in preparing for a part-time MBA, I absorbed as many leadership, strategy and management books as palatable – not bad for one’s general reading but certainly enabling a head start. This included revisiting Peter Thiel’s Zero to One but also exploring the less well-known Parag Khanna’s The Future is Asian, and William Thorndike’s even less known but excellent The Outsiders – a book on unorthodox CEOs that good friend Jordan Shopov kindly gifted me. Indeed, The Outsiders was fascinating. In an era when we singularly lionise CEOs like Warren Buffett and other charismatic celebrity-types, […]

A short recap in The Spectator on 2022 and my thoughts for Australia-Pacific relations in 2023.

Here are my three pointers on how to apply Australian statecraft in the South Pacific.

Latest thoughts on the monarchy v republic debate.

Prince Philip, it was said, had one duty above all others – to never let the Queen down. Her majesty, who has sadly passed away aged 96, aspired to never let people down. It’s not well known, for example, that on the same morning of Michael Fagan’s 1982 Palace break in – where Fagan threatened to slit his wrists with an ashtray at the foot of the Queen’s bed – she insisted the 11am investiture ceremony – literally only hours later – still proceed. No one would be left disappointed on their big day. Indeed, it is a small but […]

Here is an edited version of my remarks at Caboolture Historical Village on 3 September 2022 regarding the unique and ongoing relevance of Australia’s National Flag.

The recent PNG elections were, for many, a cause for concern. Here’s a short summary I wrote for The Spectator. What just happened in PNG?!

Here I was proud to publish my first piece in the Small Wars Journal – a publication I’ve followed closely since my days with the UN in 2010. The piece looks at US Vice President Kamala Harris’ recent remarks to the Pacific Islands Forum and what her commitment to a US South Pacific Strategy needs to consider. https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/what-does-united-states-need-its-south-pacific-strategy

A short piece for the Dipomatic Courier ahead of PNG’s July 2022 national elections. The PNG Election in the Shadow of Great Power Competition

A short piece of mine, based on a recent presentation to the Australian Institute of International Affairs. Re-vamping the Pacific: will Australia ‘step up’ or ‘step out’?