Category: ANI Events

Vice Admiral Michael Noonan announced the winner of the MacDougall Prize for best entry in the Youth Division of CN’s Essay Competition. It was announced at the concluding session of the 11th RAN Seapower Conference at Darling Harbour on 10 October.

The winner was Sub Lieutenant Theodore Squires with his essay The Past, Present and Future of Maritime Trade Warfare. He and the authors of four entries which received Honourble Mentions, who ranged in rank from Able Seaman to Lieutenant, also presented their thoughts in the Young Turks session of the Seapower Conference. The winning entry and a number of other essays will be published in the next edition of the Australian Naval Review. Some will also be published on-line.

Address given by Mr Robert McKinnon, Assistant Secretary, Strategic Issues and Intelligence Branch,  Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to the 2019 ANI Goldrick Seminar.

At the turn of the 20^th Century, protectionist trade policies shaped the global economy.^[1] However, in the wake of two world Wars, the nexus between the free flow of global trade through multilateral agreement and the prospects for peace was recognised by world leaders.^[2] Australia’s leadership, participation and influence in the multilateral economic and security architecture that emerged from this realisation underpins our prosperity. 

And as Prime Minister Morrison recently highlighted: “everything else stems from the strength of our economy.”^[3]

Australia’s trade performance contributes very strongly to our economic prosperity. Trade and national security are thus intertwined. This is a whole of government endeavour, involving many different agencies and many in this room. 

By Vice Admiral Peter Jones AO DSC RAN Retired

From the early days of the European settlement until the first years of the 20th Century, there has been concern in Australia about the interdiction of shipping bound to and from Australia. The threats changed over time from France, Russia, Germany and then Japan. Indeed the need to protect trade and keep our ports open was a major driver for the birth of Colonial navies, the maintenance of the British Squadron on the Australian Station and then the birth of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). While some of the concerns, such as in the case of Imperial Russia was somewhat alarmist, in the case of Germany and Japan it was well founded.

The 2019 Goldrick Seminar on Maritime Trade and its implications for Australian Defencewas held at the Australian Defence Force Academy on Wednesday 18 September. The highly successful event, in which the Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Mike Noonan gave the Keynote Address (pictured), attracted around 200 attendees. 

Speakers drawn from industry, government, academia and the attachécorps outlined the characteristics of maritime trade in Australia and our region and the implications for Defence in protecting this trade in times of tension or conflict.