Abstract
As the strategic competition between the United States and China has caused the deterioration of Australia’s geostrategic environment, Australia’s current “National Defense” concept is to “"defend and counter potential threats that may stem from competition between major powers as a new defense planning and strategy approach.” Implementing the defense concept requires multiple reforms, and building Australia’s defense industry capabilities is one of the most important projects. In the “2023 Defense Strategy Review” report, the Australian government advocated the need to establish autonomy in strengthening defense capabilities in key areas. Australia’s long-standing defense industrial policy paradigm was established in a context that is very different to today. Australia has always entertained the idea that despite great power competition, the risk of great power conflict is actually very low. It assumed that defense industrial policy has a long development time, and the development of defense industry capabilities can mainly focus on supporting individual Australian Defense Force projects. However, in the face of the rapidly changing challenges of today's international security environment, Australia is constantly enhancing its national defense strategy. The development schedule of the defense industry is constantly being compressed and adjusted, and its role is becoming increasingly important. Since the geostrategic time and space environment is different to the past, Australia's defense strategic thinking must not only change, but its defense industry also needs to be reformed; the defense industry must be regarded as part of national capabilities, rather than just focusing on the input of scientific and technological capabilities. In an environment where the risk of conflict between major powers is likely to increase, an autonomous and internationally-connected defense industry is itself a strategic asset. Therefore, the question to be discussed in this article is, how can Australian defense industry policy be reformed to meet its defense strategic needs? This Australian defense industry issue is not only worthy of in-depth discussion, but can also serve as reference for the development of Taiwan’s own defense industry.